Coming March 3, 2026… the paperback edition of SYLVIA DOE AND THE 100-YEAR FLOOD, the nature-based mystery-adventure from New York Times bestselling author Robert Beatty and Disney Hyperion.
Featuring exclusive bonus content including an author’s note and field guide activity pages, the paperback is available for pre-order now from booksellers nationwide including:
- Amazon – https://amzn.to/3ZMUxRk
- Barnes & Noble – https://bit.ly/4qeuBc4
- IndieBound – https://bit.ly/4tf7u3R
SYLVIA DOE AND THE 100-YEAR FLOOD is the story of a 13-year-old orphan who has lived at the Highground Home for Children in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina for as long as she can remember. When the administrators try to place her with a foster family, Sylvia always runs back to Highground and kindhearted Mason, the caretaker there who is like a father to Sylvia. The only place she feels like she belongs is with him and the horses he has taught her to care for and love.
As a powerful storm causes the remote mountain valley where she lives to flood, Sylvia begins to encounter strange and wondrous things floating down the river. Glittering gemstones and wild animals that don’t belong—everything’s out of place. Then she spots an unconscious boy floating in the water. As she drags him onto the shore and their adventure together begins, Sylvia wonders who he is and where he came from. And why does she feel such a strong connection to this mysterious boy?
The book features field guide-style illustrations by the author’s wife, Jennifer Beatty, and notes highlighting the flora and fauna of the western North Carolina mountains, both current and historic. Its themes of natural history and climate change are especially relevant and timely. In a hard-to-believe twist, the storm and catastrophic flooding that Sylvia encounters in the story is eerily similar to the devastation caused by the real-life Hurricane Helene in the western North Carolina mountains in September 2024—just days before the release of the SYLVIA DOE hardcover edition.
Praise for SYLVIA DOE AND THE 100-YEAR FLOOD
The award-winning author Kwame Alexander calls SYLVIA DOE, “Magical realism at its best!”
Both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly awarded SYLVIA DOE with a prestigious STARRED REVIEW. Kirkus said: “Adventurous and suspenseful, this story pairs environmental science content with a genre-blurring mystery. Field guide–style illustrations of the animals that Sylvia encounters on her journey add a valuable learning component that emphasizes the ecological themes present throughout the book. A page-turner that creatively explores resonant themes.”