Description
Embark on an unforgettable mystery-adventure starring a girl determined to save her friends and find a home, written by the best-selling author of the Serafina and Willa of the Wood series!
Robert Beatty, a master at telling atmospheric tales of mystery and suspense set in the natural world, has crafted another ingenious, unputdownable story.
Thirteen-year-old Sylvia Doe has lived at the Highground Home for Children nearly all her life. Whenever the administrators try to place her with a foster family, she runs away–back to Mason, Highground’s caretaker and her best friend. The only place she feels like she belongs is with him and the horses he has taught her to love.
When 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?
My Thoughts
Robert Beatty never fails to deliver a suspenseful, well-written story where the pages fly by because it’s so good you can’t stop reading. Here we have a new hero, Sylvia, a foster child with apparently no family and no recollection of what happened to her before age 4. All she knows is that she belongs at Highgrounds, the children’s home that is the only true home she’s ever known. She’s most comfortable with the horses and the nature surrounding the site.
This eerily prophetic story of a flood of epic proportions in the mountains of North Carolina is truly one of the best I’ve read in ages. From the very beginning when Sylvia is making her way back to Highgrounds, to the heartstopping ending, the story of Sylvia Doe and the mysterious boy she rescues from a raging river will keep readers entertained and get them hooked on Beatty’s writing. He joins Kate DiCamillo in my list of the best authors of children’s fiction writing today.
Publication Date: October 8, 2024
Published By: Disney Publishing Worldwide: Hyperion
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
It's All About the Book 