Beatrice and Croc Harry

One of Canada’s most celebrated author’s debut novel for young readers

Beatrice, a young girl of uncertain age, wakes up all alone in a tree house in the forest. How did she arrive in this cozy dwelling, stocked carefully with bookshelves and oatmeal accoutrements? And who has been leaving a trail of clues, composed in delicate purple handwriting?

So begins the adventure of a brave and resilient Black girl’s search for identity and healing in bestselling author Lawrence Hill’s middle-grade debut. Though Beatrice cannot recall how or why she arrived in the magical forest of Argilia—where every conceivable fish, bird, mammal and reptile coexist, and any creature with a beating heart can communicate with any other—something within tells her that beyond this forest is a family that is waiting anxiously for her return.

Just outside her tree-house door lives Beatrice’s most unlikely ally, the enormous and mercurial King Crocodile Croc Harry, who just may have a secret of his own. As they form an unusual truce and work toward their common goal, Beatrice and Croc Harry will learn more about their forest home than they ever could have imagined. And what they learn about themselves may destroy Beatrice’s chances of returning home forever.

Critical Praise

"At once a perfectly delightful childhood adventure story and a heart wrenching tale about very real, very current events, and the power of friendship and forgiveness to help heal divides at a time when we need it most. Lawrence Hill engages the reader with whimsy and humour, then slowly peels back the layers to some harder truths beneath. I loved this book so much." — Susin Nielsen, author of Tremendous Things and We Are All Made of Molecules

"Like the most memorable books for young people, Beatrice and Croc Harry touches heart, mind, and an ageless sense of wonder. A modern fable of great beauty and sophistication, it teaches us about the forging of unlikely alliances and the quest for truths and good relations in the mysterious and often frightening settings that we have found ourselves within. It teaches us, too, about the awesome courage of a Black girl in discovering herself and pursuing her own ending to a story. Lawrence Hill has poured so much of his celebrated wisdom, wit, and storytelling magic into these pages; and the result is a book to treasure and share across generations." — David Chariandy, author of Brother and I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You

"If Alice in Wonderland, Brown Girl Dreaming, the Wizard of Oz were overlayed with racial violence, integration, and racial identity circa 1950 to 2021, there would be Beatrice and Croc Harry-- a journey of epic proportions. Told in vibrant language about an intelligent, assertive but amnesic girl, the novel follows Beatrice through the Magical Argilia Forest as she, with the help of an overbearing crocodile, pieces together clues that hint to her origins and lead her home. This story has a familiar yet endearing quality that harkens back to children’s literature from the turn of the century." — Nadia L. Hohn, author of Malaika's Surprise