Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood

Amnesiac 13-year-old Sylvia Doe has considered Highground Home for Children in the North Carolina mountains her safe haven ever since she was found by Highground staff at age four. As a devout naturalist, she feels uneasy anywhere else; she’s run away from every foster home she’s been placed in, returning faithfully to Highground. Upon fleeing from another foster family during a hurricane, she discovers a flooded river that has morphed into a once-in-a-lifetime “100-year flood.” Things that have no place in the present such as long-extinct animals appear along the river’s current, as well as 13-year-old Jorna Grant, who has been carried far from home. When Sylvia rescues him, the pair soon realize that the solution to ending the flood may lie in getting Jorna home—but in the process, Sylvia could lose Highground. Beatty (Willa of Dark Hollow) pays tribute to the beauty and dangers of the natural world in this thoughtful tale. Sensorial descriptions focusing on Sylvia’s love for her surroundings and passion for observing the environment mix with pulse-pounding action to craft a quietly magical adventure about finding where one belongs. Sylvia has brown skin; Jorna is Black. Ages 8–12. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman Literary. (Oct.)