Search Results: 48 books from 1 publisher. Learn more

Wild Cards

Jeff Szpirglas (author), Dave Whamond (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459812123

Matt loves Monster Zap cards. No, no, Matt LOVES Monster Zap cards. He has Monster Zap toys, reads Monster Zap books and wears Monster Zap underwear. Matt and his friends like to trade the cards at school, as the schoolyard is so empty and dirty, there isn't much else for them to do at recess. But when kids start fighting over Monster Zap and the cards are banned, Matt realizes that the school has big problems, maybe even bigger problems than the fights the cards caused. With the help of their teacher, and a superhero in disguise, Matt and his classmates set out to save Monster Zap and end up doing a lot more than that.

Food Freak

Alex Van Tol (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459813403

It really seems like Dani's dad has gone around the bend. Ever since Dani's mother died of cancer, all her dad does is stand around on street corners with his crazy signs, proclaiming that processed foods mean the end of the world. The Food Freak, as he is known, has already scared away all of Dani's friends at her old school. But it's a new year, and Dani is at a new school in a different part of town. Maybe things will be better now. Dani just needs to keep her head down and avoid making any friends. That way, nobody will find out about her dad and his insane protests. The plan seems to be working fine until one day Dani meets a boy who helps her see things in a different light.

The Most Dangerous Thing

Leanne Lieberman (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459811850

Sixteen-year-old Sydney hates to talk (or even think) about sex. She's also fighting a secret battle against depression, and she's sure she'll never have a boyfriend. When her classmate Paul starts texting and sending her nature photos, she is caught off guard by his interest. Always uncomfortable with any talk about sex, Sydney is shocked when her extroverted sister, Abby, announces that she is going to put on The Vagina Monologues at school. Despite her discomfort, Sydney starts to reexamine her relationship with her body, and with Paul. But her depression worsens, and with the help of her friends, her family, a therapist and some medication, she grapples with what she calls the most dangerous thing about sex: female desire.

The Moccasin Goalie

William Roy Brownridge (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459806900

Danny and his friends, Anita, Petou and Marcel, are typical prairie youngsters hockey mad. The four are always playing road hockey or involved in a game of shinny on the community rink. One day a town team, the Wolves, is formed. The friends are overjoyed, but when the time comes to choose the team, only Marcel is picked. The other three friends are not chosen; Anita is a girl, Petou is too small and Danny cannot skate. It is the biggest disappointment of Danny's life. But near the end of the season, the regular goalie is injured and Danny is asked to replace him. If the Wolves can win the game, they will make the playoffs! This is Danny's chance to prove that even though he can't wear a pair of skates, he can still play the game.

Taz's Recipe

Diane Tullson (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459811874

Fourteen-year-old Taz knows one thing for sure: she's a perfect disaster in the kitchen. Every time she tries to cook, chaos ensues. After fires, toxins and more than one minor injury, Taz will be happy if she makes it through her food-science class in one piece. But when the class enters a competitive race for a coveted program and Taz is put in a group that expects to win, the pressure is on. As the competition heats up, Taz is desperate to hold her own and not let her team down.

High Note

Jeff Ross (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459811126

Hailey McEwan has many interests - soccer, field hockey, animation. She'd probably never have started singing if her best friend, Crissy, hadn't persuaded her to take singing lessons and join her choir. No one had any idea that Hailey would be such a natural, least of all Hailey herself. A shared love of music from pop to opera has been a big part of the girls' friendship, but when the two face off in a competition for a role in a production of The Marriage of Figaro, their closeness turns into a bitter rivalry. Hailey will have to make a tough decision. Is opera as important to her as it is to Crissy? And is landing a role worth losing her best friend?

Show Mode

Raquel Rivera (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459812055

Adina has always wanted to be a part of the annual fashion show at her school for the arts. Now that she's finally in the ninth grade, she and her friends can audition. She knows their act could be perfect. They've got great music, gorgeous costumes and wicked dance moves. But Willow is being her usual flaky self, and Sandra's getting touchy. Maybe even a bit mean. Luckily, Seth remains steady and reliable. Their biggest competition is the annoyingly perfect Prima Donnas, who are doing everything they can to undermine Adina and her friends. Adina is used to working hard at everything she does, including her violin, art, drama and singing classes. But her friends are getting sick of her ordering them around. They just don't get what a huge deal this is. When one of the Prima Donnas gets injured during their audition, minutes after Sandra storms off in a huff, the two groups realize that in order to succeed, they may have to work together.

After the Fire

Becky Citra (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781554692477

Melissa is waiting for the "new life" that her mother Sharlene has promised her since a fire devastated their family. But nothing ever seems to change. Melissa has difficulty making friends at school, they never have enough money and her little brother Cody is a brat. When Sharlene announces that they will be spending the month of August at a remote cabin on a wilderness lake, Melissa is less than thrilled. But there is more to do at the lake than she expected, and she is surprised to learn that her mother knows how to paddle a canoe, fish and make bannock and s'mores. On an island in the middle of the lake, Melissa meets Alice, a strange girl who is writing a fantasy novel. Alice shares her tree fort on the island with Melissa, and while at first Melissa is attracted to Alice's strong personality and her stories of her "perfect family," she becomes increasingly uneasy around Alice. As Melissa's relationship with her mother improves and her confidence increases, she is able to hold her own with Alice and start to appreciate her own imperfect family.

Missing

Becky Citra (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781554693467

Thea and her dad are always on the move, from one small Cariboo town to another, trying to leave behind the pain of Thea's mom's death. They never stay long enough in one place for Thea to make friends, but when her dad gets work renovating a guest ranch on Gumboot Lake, she dares to hope that their wandering days are over. At the ranch she makes friends with Van, a local boy, and works hard to build the trust of an abused horse named Renegade. When Thea unearths the decades-old story of a four-year-old girl who disappeared from the ranch and was never seen again, she enlists Van to help her solve the mystery. When some disturbing facts come to light, she finally starts to come to terms with the losses in her own life.

Dunces Anonymous

Kate Jaimet (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781554690985

Josh Johnson's mother wants him to run for class president. Josh just wants to run and hide. If only there were a club to help downtrodden eleven-year-olds escape their parents' ambitions! But since no such club exists, Josh has to invent one -- he calls it Dunces Anonymous, and before he knows it, the membership is up to three. Magnolia and Wang help Josh lose the school presidential election, but that's just the beginning of the club's activities. Magnolia, pressured by her mom into trying out for the role of Juliet in the school's play, finds herself fending off the advances of an overly amorous Romeo. Wang's father has forced him to join the school chess club, but Wang desperately wants to take fencing lessons instead. As the three friends try to free Magnolia from the school play, liberate Wang from the chess club and get rid of horrible Stacey Hogarth, who has vowed to become the new president of Dunces Anonymous, they realize that they all have talents -- if only their parents could see them.

Ace's Basement

Ted Staunton (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459804395

Following the demise of his first band, Ace has started a duo called Two with Lisa, a girl he has a huge crush on. As Ace and Lisa get serious about their music, Denny, Ace's hapless friend, tries to help out by filming their every move so that he can create the ultimate music video. As a joke, Denny puts together a Two video capturing all of the embarrassing moments—moments that Lisa in particular doesn't want shared. Somehow, the video gets posted on YouTube. Lisa and Ace find themselves starring in the latest comedic viral video. Lisa is humiliated and refuses to talk to Ace—until their fame turns out to have positive results.

Caching In

Kristin Butcher (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459802346

Eric and Chris are avid geocachers who stumble into a very strange search for a series of geocaches. At first they are merely curious, but as the stakes rise and the challenges become more trying, the boys get truly hooked. Convinced they are indeed on the trail of treasure, they become consumed with the search, and though their quest tests their strength, intelligence, courage and even their friendship, they don't give up.

Stolen

John Wilson (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459803770

On a visit to a seaside town in Australia, fifteen-year-old Sam meets Annabel, who works at the local museum. Annabel's interest in history is infectious, and Sam soon finds himself eager to hunt for the remains of a boat called the Mahogany Ship—a shipwreck sought after by many. When a storm creates an erosion hole that exposes a structure, Sam and Annabel are convinced it's the fabled ship. Soon all of the museum staff are at the erosion site to check it out. But the same storm also destroys the museum's power; someone knows the alarms aren't working and steals the museum's most treasured artifact, a large porcelain peacock worth $4 million. As Sam and Annabel search for the thief, they realize there may be a link between the fabled shipwreck and the recent theft.

The Scream of the Hawk

Nancy Belgue (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551438269

Lissa is the new kid in town. She is lonely and she blames her mother and her mother's new husband for her troubles. To make matters worse, she has to look after a boy who believes that his dead mother's spirit lives on in the red-tailed hawk that he secretly keeps captive. Ironically, the resulting adventure takes Lissa's mind off her own troubles and gets her a friend to boot!

TJ and the Sports Fanatic

Hazel Hutchins (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551434636

TJ Barnes is back, playing with his crazy cats, T-Rex and Alaska, helping out in his parents' hardware store and goofing around with his best friend, Seymour. When Seymour announces that he has signed them both up for a football team, TJ fears the worst. Neither of them is huge or mean or able to tackle, catch, throw, run or kick a ball down a field, but Seymour is determined to be a star. With the help of a stack of library books, TJ starts to understand the game but it takes more than a few books to figure out what's wrong with his best friend.

A Noodle Up Your Nose

Frieda Wishinsky (author), Louise-Andrée Laliberté (Illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551437675

Kate has decided on a pirate theme for her party. She thinks that seven is going to be the best age to be. Her friend Jake is going to teach her to ride a two-wheeler. And her party is going to be fabulous. That is, until Violet starts spreading stories. Kate goes right on with her planning, but she is worried. When Violet is the only one to show up on the big day, Kate thinks that her worst fears have come true.

The True Story of George

Ingrid Lee (author), Stephane Denis (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551437750

George is hardly bigger than a child's middle finger. His knees and his elbows don't bend and his legs are fused together. When Katie and Mackenzie find him at the edge of the ocean, they are unimpressed, but George keeps turning up in their lives. And what may seem ordinary to a girl and a boy can be an awesome adventure if you are six centimeters tall.

Theodora Bear

Carolyn Jones (author), Barbara Spurll (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551434988

Harriet has a large collection of stuffed animals. Her favorite is an intrepid bear, Theodora (Teddy, to her friends), who leads the others in a variety of attempts to boss Harriet around and to claim the spot of alpha animal in the household. It is all Harriet can do to get her own way once in a while.

Sam and Nate

PJ Sarah Collins (author), Katherine Jin (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551437712

Sam and Nate tells the story of a developing friendship between two boys. Through letters, notes, school projects, a pregnant teacher and a substitute who has never taught children before, Sam and Nate support each other as best they can, but get into some funny scrapes while they're at it.

Puppies on Board

Sarah N. Harvey (author), Rose Cowles (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551435930

When eleven puppies are born on Mollie's family's boat, chaos ensues. Mollie's mother wonders what to do, but Mollie has an idea. She will host a tea party in order to find homes for Charlotte, Heidi, Stuart, Margalo, Max, Pippi, Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger. But Wilbur ... Wilbur is special. Not just any home will do for him.

Smuggler's Cave

Sonya Bates (author), Kasia Charko (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781554693092

Jake and his younger brother Tommy are visiting family at a beach house on the coast. Having already lost a race to his cousin Lexie, Jake can't resist a second chance at victory when she challenges him again. Only this time it's a boat race-to the legendary Smuggler's Cave and back. The ocean is deep and choppy, and the boat is harder to control than Jake thought it would be. When he and Tommy reach Smuggler's Cave, the unthinkable happens. The boat capsizes, and they are swept into the cave. Lexie comes to their rescue, but the rising tide prevents them from escaping, and the three of them soon realize they are trapped.

The Big Tree Gang

Jo Ellen Bogart (author), Dean Griffiths (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551435794

Reg and Keely are twins. Keely loves painting and bugs. Reg loves rocks. Keely sings crazy rhymes. Reg plays softball. Shawna and Burt are their friends. In this series of linked stories, the children's deep involvement with their daily activities never falters, from a bug walk, through incidents flying a kite and dividing labor at clean up time, to a chance to swim in the river on a hot summer's day.

Alphabetter

Dan Bar-el (author), Graham Ross (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781551434414

Did you ever try to use an egg in place of a football? Or dress up a live quail in doll's clothes when you didn't have a doll? Or strap rag-dolls onto your feet in place of slippers? In Alphabetter, twenty-six boys and girls find themselves in twenty-six different predicaments when the alphabet refuses to cooperate with them. In the end, the solution turns out to be right on the next page, if only they can find it...