Search Results: 142 books from 1 publisher. Learn more

Oh Brother

Sonya Spreen Bates (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459824348

Moving to a new city and a new school is never easy. So Lauren is relieved when Callie, Treena and Maddy welcome her into their group. But then Lauren witnesses their reaction to a first grader in a wheelchair. That boy is her little brother, Will. But she’s afraid that if she tells them, they may not want to be friends with her. Soon Lauren finds herself living a double life as she struggles with the challenges of building new friendships and trying to make it up to Will for not acknowledging him at school.

The Great Bear Sea

Ian McAllister (author) Nicholas Read (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459800205

This amazing part of the northeast Pacific Ocean is home to some of the planet's mightiest and most beloved residents: whales, sea lions, dolphins, orcas, sea otters and wild salmon. Filled with spectacular images of this largely unknown part of the world, the book also explores the uncertain future of the Great Bear Sea in this age of climate change, overfishing, pipelines and oil tankers. Can a rainforest full of rare spirit bears, fishing wolves and great grizzlies survive without a Great Bear Sea to feed and nourish it?

Running on Empty

Sonya Spreen Bates (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459816541

Everyone expected Leon Kline, anchor for the 4x100 sprint relay, to secure Gilburn High's spot in the record books. But a freak accident on the final stretch changes everything. Suddenly his future is gone. No more running, no scholarship, no college. But then he meets sassy and straight-talking Casey De Vries, and life doesn't look quite so bleak. She even gets him running again. He can't sprint anymore, but he can handle longer distances. As he gets to know Casey better, he realizes that something is not quite right. How can he help her if she won't tell him what’s going on?

Project Bollywood

Mahtab Narsimhan (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459832121

Salman loves Hindi movies and wants to produce a short Bollywood film for his school project. He gathers his friends when he's ready with the script, which is a mashup of all the movies he has ever seen. As director, Salman insists everyone follows the script exactly. But it's full of stereotypes and the cast and crew are not shy about expressing their concerns. Salman wants to remain true to the Bollywood model for his film but when his entire cast threatens to walk out, he has to decide whether to stand firm or find a way to collaborate.

Ours to Share

Kari Jones (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459816350

There are almost eight billion people alive today. Having that many people in the world puts pressure on both social and natural resources, and we have to ask ourselves difficult questions like, What is our fair share? And how do we share more equitably? Ours to Share starts by giving an overview of human population growth, from the time when there were only a few hundred thousand people until now. The book goes on to examine some of the inequities that happen between people when natural and social resources are stressed and provides examples of people who have found innovative ways to share more equitably with their neighbors.

Queen of Disguises

Melanie Jackson (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781554690381

Amateur detective and singing sensation Dinah Galloway has enough on her plate without having to worry about being pursued by a vengeful stalker. The red-headed twelve-year-old is in the running to sing in commercials promoting beautiful British Columbia. To clinch the job, Dinah has to get fit at a wellness retreat on Salt Spring Island. Off to Salt Spring she goes, along with the two other finalists: one friendly, the other the last word in sulky. Hoping to shed not only pounds but her crazed pursuer, Dinah learns the true meaning of personal best - it truly is how you play the game, not whether you win or lose.

Off the Rim

Sonya Spreen Bates (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459808898

Dylan’s wish comes true when Coach Scott names him to the starting lineup for the Mountview High Hunters’ first game of the playoffs. But just when he should be concentrating on basketball, Dylan becomes the target of some off-court aggression. As he’s driving his girlfriend, Jenna, home one night, a black pickup truck tries to run them off the road. The police call it an accident. But even as Dylan tries to put it behind him, he has a sense of impending danger that he can’t shake.

My Life as a Diamond

Jenny Manzer (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459818323

A heartwarming, funny, fast-paced story about the bravery it takes to live as your true self, no matter the cost. Ten-year-old Caspar "Caz" Cadman loves baseball and has a great arm. He loves the sounds, the smells, the stats. Even though Caz is thrilled when he makes the team, he worries because he has a big secret. No one in this city knows that before Caz told his parents he was a boy, he lived a very different life. It's nobody's business.

Lucky Break

Brooke Carter (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459816428

Seventeen-year-old Lucy "Lucky" Graves is devoted to her championship rugby team, but her dreams of a scholarship are destroyed when she breaks her leg during an important game. If it doesn't heal properly, Lucy could be benched for the rest of the year. Goodbye pro career, goodbye college, goodbye future. Without rugby, who is she?

Les Casse-Cous

Pam Withers (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781554694235

Les Casse-Cous doivent fair sept coups d'audace avant que leur rivaux, les Sauvages, n'en fassent autant. Avant un accident où il a perdu l'usage de sa jambe gauche, Kip était le leader des Casse-Cous. Il a maintenant de la difficulté à réussir les coups et il soupconne que les autres membres veulent l'exclure du club. À mesure que les coups deviennent plus difficiles, les Casse-Cous tentent de convaincre Kip qu'il ne sera peut-être pas à la hauteur. Kip refuse d'abandonner même s'il sait que ses amis ont probablement raison. Kip's only friends are the members of the Daredevil Club, a club whose mission is to complete seven dangerous dares before their rivals, the Wildmen, complete their list of dares. Before the cliff diving accident in which he lost the use of his leg, Kip had been the leader of the Daredevil club. Now he has difficulty completing the dares and suspects that his membership is threatened. As the daredevils plan their final stunt, a dangerous climb along a narrow steel shelf beneath a bridge, they try to convince Kip that he may not be up to the task. Kip refuses to back down even though he suspects his friends might be right.

Leggings Revolt

Monique Polak (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459811904

Eric and his buddies have left behind their all-boys school to attend high school with girls. Eager to find his place in this exciting new world, Eric joins the student life committee, unaware that he is expected to enforce the school’s strict dress code. The dress code is particularly harsh on the girls he is keen to get to know. Eric finds this awkward, but it’s nothing compared to the position he finds himself in when the whole school revolts.

Learning Seventeen

Brooke Carter (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459815544

New Hope Academy, or, as seventeen-year-old Jane Learning likes to call it, No Hope, is a Baptist reform school where Jane is currently being held captive. Of course, smart, sarcastic Jane has no interest in reforming, failing to see any benefit to pretending to play well with others. But then Hannah shows up, a gorgeous bad girl with fiery hair and an even stormier disposition. She shows Jane how to live a full and fulfilling life even when the world tells you you're wrong, and how to believe in a future outside the "prison" walls. Jane soon learns, though, that Hannah is quietly battling some demons of her own.

Munro vs. the Coyote

Darren Groth (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459814103

Since the sudden death of his younger sister, Evie, sixteen-year-old Munro Maddux has been having flashbacks and anger-management issues. He has a constant ache in his right hand. And there's a taunting, barking, biting voice he calls "the Coyote." Munro knows a six-month student exchange will not be the stuff of teenage dreams, but in Brisbane he intends to move beyond his troubled past. It is there, at an assisted-living residence called Fair Go Community Village, that Munro discovers the Coyote can be silenced.

Out of Season

Kari Jones (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459800984

Fourteen-year-old Maya sneaks out in her kayak before breakfast every day to check on a family of sea otters living in nearby Riley Bay. It's hard being an animal lover in a fishing family. The animals Maya loves threaten her family's livelihood, and Maya doesn't know if she can trust her family not to hurt them. She is determined to protect the sea otters, even if it means checking on them for the rest of her life. One morning, Maya discovers she's being watched. Who is it and what are they doing? Soon Maya has to trust someone as she gets caught in a dangerous race to save the sea otters - and her family's livelihood - from poachers.

Jelly Roll

Mere Joyce (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459826304

At school, Jenny Royce is bullied by Grade A Jerk Austin Parks. When Jenny and Austin end up at a March Break leadership camp together, Jenny thinks her week will be miserable. Especially once she and Austin are grouped together for the camp’s main assignment. They have to run a stall at a local farmer’s market. The market could be a lot of fun. But when Jenny learns that Austin wants their group’s project to fail, she has to decide if she can risk standing up to him.

Gone is Gone

Isabelle Groc (author) Jane Goodall (illustrator)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459816862

Gone is Gone looks at why species become endangered, how scientists are learning about endangered wildlife, what people are doing to conserve species and ways young people can help. The book is richly illustrated with unique photos that Isabelle has taken over many years of observing endangered species in the field alongside the people who work to conserve them. Throughout, the author shares enchanting encounters and personal field stories: watching narwhals socialize in the Canadian Arctic, getting close to a Laysan albatross raising chicks on a remote Hawaiian island, spotting a rhinoceros on safari and even swimming with sea lions in the Galápagos Islands. Gone is Gone will inform, intrigue and inspire readers to take small steps toward big changes for endangered species around the world.

Eight Times Up

John Corr (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459818620

Through the teachings of their sensei, Riley and his classmates come to understand that aikido is not about winning or losing or about being perfect. In the dojo, Riley meets boys who are much rougher than he is and a girl who is tougher than all the rest of them put together. For Wafaa, aikido is not her first choice. She was disqualified from competing in judo for wearing a hijab.From the first time she steps on the mat, it's clear she is far more skilled than anyone expected. Sensei shows them all how to tap into their inner strength and find their place in the universe.

Home Sweet Neighborhood

Michelle Mulder (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459816923

Placemaking—personalizing public and semi-private spaces like front yards—is a growing trend in cities and suburbs around the world, drawing people out of their homes and into conversation with one another. Picture a busy avenue. Now plant trees along the boulevard, paint a mural by the empty lot, and add a community garden. Set up benches along the sidewalks and make space for kids' chalk drawings, and you've set the scene for a thriving community. Kids are natural placemakers, building tree forts, drawing on sidewalks and setting up lemonade stands, but people of all ages can enjoy creative placemaking activities. From Dutch families who drag couches and tables onto sidewalks for outdoor suppers to Canadians who build little lending libraries to share books with neighbors, people can do things that make life more fun and strengthen neighborhoods. Home Sweet Neighborhood combines upbeat text, fun facts and colorful photos to intrigue and inspire readers.

I Am a Feminist

Monique Polak (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459818934

What is feminism? Why does it still matter? What exactly does intersectionality mean? In order to answer these (and many other) questions, I Am a Feminist first examines the history of feminism and then addresses the issues girls and women continue to face today. The book also looks at the ways in which people, especially young people, are working together to create a world where gender equality is a reality, not a dream. The author shares stories about the courageous individuals who have made a difference in the lives of women and girls worldwide. From suffragists to the #MeToo movement, I Am a Feminist encourages readers to stand up and speak out for equality and justice.

La triche

Kristin Butcher (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781554699988

Laurel se découvre une passion pour le journalisme d'investigation. Pour écrire un article-choc, elle mène une enquête sur une triche à son école. Elle découvre que la tricherie est généralisée—beaucoup plus qu'elle ne l'avait imaginé. Aveugle à toute autre préoccupation, Laurel est prête à perdre ses amies pour tirer cette histoire au clair. Mais son ultime découverte change tout. Laurel discovers her passion for investigative journalism when she writes an article for her school paper about the homeless man who's been living at the school. Eager to write more articles with impact, she launches an investigation of a cheating scam at her high school. Laurel's efforts elicit hostility from her classmates. Nobody is interested in seeing her article go to print, not even her own brother. It is evident that the cheating is widespread, and Laurel, caught up in the thrill of the investigation, is willing to commit social suicide to get the story, but her ultimate discovery changes everything.

Eye Sore

Melanie Jackson (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459807730

The last thing Chaz wants is to spend his summer working on his father’s Eye, a Ferris wheel with glass-bottomed gondolas set up to view scenic North Vancouver. For one thing, Chaz would prefer to pursue his own passion: dance in the style of the late, great Gene Kelly. More important, Chaz suffers from vertigo, and even the thought of the Eye makes him want to lose his lunch. But when a crowd of angry protestors and a mysterious vandal threaten his father’s dream, and the family’s livelihood, Chaz is forced to overcome his own fears to help out.

Every Last Drop

Michelle Mulder (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459802247

In the developed world, if you want a drink of water you just turn on a tap or open a bottle. But for millions of families worldwide, finding clean water is a daily challenge, and kids are often the ones responsible for carrying water to their homes. Every Last Drop looks at why the world’s water resources are at risk and how communities around the world are finding innovative ways to quench their thirst and water their crops. Maybe you’re not ready to drink fog, as they do in Chile, or use water made from treated sewage, but you can get a low-flush toilet, plant a tree, protect a wetland or just take shorter showers. Every last drop counts!

Getting the Brush Off

Mere Joyce (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459813595

Two years ago, sixteen-year-old Sydney Hart was kicked out of the prestigious Burke Academy when her mother could no longer afford the tuition. She lost a promising future in the arts, as well as her best friend, who didn't want to be seen with an art-academy reject. But now, without Burke's rigid structure, Sydney has found her true passion in performance painting and is busking on Halifax's boardwalk to earn enough money to go to art camp. After the police shut her down, Sydney learns her old school is hosting a "brush-off" speed-painting contest with a cash prize. Entering would mean facing her painful past, not to mention her former friend, who's also competing.

Urgent Message from a Hot Planet

Ann Eriksson (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459826335

The climate crisis is the issue of our time. Scientists have warned for over 100 years that burning fossil fuels and destroying nature will warm the earth's atmosphere and affect the climate in adverse ways: more severe and intense storms, prolonged heat waves, drought, flooding, wildfires, rising sea levels and ocean acidification. Urgent Message from a Hot Planet: Navigating the Climate Crisis outlines the science behind global heating and its root causes, provides ways to take action and honors the efforts of the millions of youth and adult allies from around the world working tirelessly to make a difference. Their powerful message: do something now!

Don't Stand So Close to Me

Eric Walters (author)

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers ISBN: 9781459827882

Thirteen-year-old Quinn and her friends can't believe their luck when spring break is extended an extra two weeks—even if it's because of some virus. But when the impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic becomes apparent, everyone, not just the students, has to learn to adjust to their new reality. Quinn’s father is an ER doctor and has to self-isolate to protect his family from the virus. Isaac’s mother is the chief of police and now has to enforce new physical-distancing bylaws. Reese can’t visit her grandmother in her care home anymore. And their entire school has moved to online classes. Sacrifices have to be made to keep everyone safe, but there’s more to life than rules and scary news reports. In an effort to find some good in all this uncertainty, Quinn comes up with an idea that she hopes will bring the entire community together.