Noah Thorpe is spending the school term in Kangiqsualujjuaq, in Quebec's Far North, where his dad is an English teacher in the Inuit community.

Noah's not too keen about living in the middle of nowhere, but getting away from Montréal has one big advantage: he gets a break from the bully at his old school. But Noah learns that problems have a way of …

What does Ethan know? And what is on his camera that someone is willing to kill for?

Ethan lives in a foster home, struggling to put his life on the right track. Involved in a photography program for at-risk kids, he finds himself threatened again and again by someone who wants his camera. Struggling to stay out of trouble and solve the mystery, he …

Two girls have recently disappeared near the town where Stephanie lives. She is concerned but is sure that it could never happen to her. But then it does. Tied up and alone far from home, she manages to escape her captor and run for her life. But she is in the middle of nowhere, with no food, no shelter and no way home. And worst of all, she has ru …

Thunderbowl, la banda de Jeremy, es excelente, y acaba de conseguir su primera gran oportunidad: una serie de tocadas en el bar local. El problema es que Jeremy debería estar al corriente con sus trabajos para la escuela, pero pasa casi todas las noches en el escandaloso club tratando de mantener a la banda unida. Equilibrar los sueños de éxito …

Ten-year-old Rosario Ramirez and her family are political refugees from Mexico, trying to make a new life in Canada.

After being teased at school, Rosario vows not to speak English again until she can speak with an accent that's one hundred percent Canadian. Since she and her parents plan to spend the whole summer working on BC fruit farms, she will …

When the Edmonton Oil Kings discover that Reuben Reuben has a hockey game as unforgettable as his name and his Inuit heritage, life changes in a hurry for him and his best friend Gear.

A wealthy businessman sponsors a three-on-three pond-hockey tour across the western Arctic, and Reuben and Gear find out more than they ever bargained for about team …

As far as Zane knows, today is just another boring day at his boring gas-station job. Until he gets carjacked by a masked gunman. Zane has no idea where they're going or what will happen when they get there. All he knows is that the lunatic in the passenger seat has a gun aimed at him. Zane tries to reason with the guy, and when that fails, he trie …

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 hel …

When Trevor, Nick and Robyn visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Robyn is inspired to raise funds for a dinosaur dig that will close soon if it doesn't find funding. The kids are caught up in another mystery when a chain of suspicious events, including the disappearance of important fossils and a fraudulent discovery at the dig, leads them to wonder wha …

When Cameron rescues a baby abandoned in the woods, everyone says it is a miracle. A stroke of luck that he just happened to be there, riding his bike along that trail, and heard the baby's cry. But Cameron has a secret: It wasn't just luck. He was there because his twin sister Katie begged him to go. Did Katie know about the baby? Is she covering …

From the moment Simon Whitfield burst onto the world stage at the 2000 Sydney Summer Games as triathlon's first Olympic champion, his winning personality and stellar athletic abilities have inspired young people around the globe.

In Simon Says Gold, Simon describes his personal journey to Olympic glory as he recounts not only that glorious day in Sy …

Rachel's idyllic existence with her family in the remote mountain passes of northern Yukon was shattered by her father's depression, the family's relocation to "town" and her father's subsequent disappearance. Obsessed with understanding why her father never returned, Rachel hikes with her dog across mountain passes and along valleys to her childho …

When Josh's mother dies in a phobia-induced car crash, she leaves two questions for her grieving family: how did a snake get into her car and how do you mourn with no faith to guide you?

Twelve-year-old Josh is left alone to find the answers. His father is building a time machine. His four-year-old brother's closest friend is a plastic Power Ranger. …

In this retelling of a Jewish folktale, Jacob tries to stump Rachel with his best riddles but fails repeatedly.

When a young woman in need of help presents Rachel and Jacob with the trickiest riddles of all, they discover the only way to solve them is to work together.

Justin is fascinated with the aged guard dog at the corner store.

Justin names it Smokey and sneaks the dog treats. Smokey belongs to a company that supplies working dogs to local businesses. Justin is thrilled to get a job working for Smokey's company, until he learns about the mistreatment of the animals. When Justin can't shake his suspicion that …

"New Resource Guides available for Hi/Low fiction from Orca Book Publishers. Orca Soundings are teen novels for reluctant readers. Orca Currents are middle-school novels for reluctant readers. Written at a grade 2.0 to grade 4.5 reading level, these compelling contemporary novels have proven incredibly popular with teachers and librarians looking f …

"Orca Soundings are teen novels for reluctant readers. Orca Currents are middle-school novels for reluctant readers. Written at a grade 2.0 to grade 4.5 reading level, these compelling contemporary novels have proven incredibly popular with teachers and librarians looking for material that will engage their most reluctant of readers. Orca has alwa …

Perfect for reluctant teen readers, the Orca Sports titles combine mystery and adventure with team sports such as hockey, baseball, football and soccer, and solo sports like scuba diving, running, sailing, horse racing and even race-car driving. Written by popular, award-winning writers such as Sigmund Brouwer and Nikki Tate, Orca Sports books enga …

Orca Soundings are teen novels for reluctant readers. Orca Currents are middle-school novels for reluctant readers. Written at a grade 2.0 to grade 4.5 reading level, these compelling contemporary novels have proven incredibly popular with teachers and librarians looking for material that will engage their most reluctant of readers. Orca has always …

New Resource Guides available for Hi/Low fiction from Orca Book Publishers Orca Soundings are teen novels for reluctant readers. Orca Currents are middle-school novels for reluctant readers. Written at a grade 2.0 to grade 4.5 reading level, these compelling contemporary novels have proven incredibly popular with teachers and librarians looking for …

The Orca Echoes are lively, entertaining short chapter books aimed at readers between ages seven and nine. These popular classroom favorites are well suited for social responsibility and character building programs. The Orca Echoes Resource Guide helps teachers open the door for meaningful classroom discussion. Professionally written guides with cu …

• Reading levels from grade 2.0 to 4.5
• 112-136 pages each
• Short, high-interest novels for ages 10 to 14
• Accelerated Reader selections
• Lexile levels available

• Free individual teachers' guides online

   

"These short, well-constructed books written by best-selling, award-winning authors are a gold mine for reluctant readers in middle school. Ra …

In 1935, a nine-year-old boy's family held a forbidden Potlatch in faraway Kingcome Inlet. Watl'kina slipped from his bed to bear witness. In the Big House masked figures danced by firelight to the beat of the drum. And there, he saw a figure he knew. Aboriginal elder Alfred Scow and award-winning author Andrea Spalding collaborate to tell the stor …

Dime tiene 15 años y siempre está enojada. Sus padres no la comprenden y su hermano quedó paralizado por un accidente. Cuando las peleas y las acusaciones la sobrepasan, Dime se muda con su hermano. Pero los problemas la siguen. Si Dime no entiende que debe comenzar a responsabilizarse de sus actos, nada va a cambiar.

Dime is fifteen and always a …

Cuando Chris encuentra una billetera en la calle, trata enseguida de encontrar a su dueño y devolverla. A pesar de que está pasando por problemas en casa y en la escuela, quiere hacer lo correcto. Sin embargo, todo comienza a complicarse y parece que su vida entera se va a derrumbar, y es entonces cuando Chris de da cuenta de que el dueño de la …

Seven-year-old Bruno is back and tackling problems with his trademark originality.

He defeats hiccups. He trades his mother for a new hat. He skillfully avoids math. And thanks to his special Flutter Kick, he easily advances to the next level—in swimming and in life! Bruno is ready for any challenge as he learns all there is to know about being a …

Jake and his younger brother Tommy are on their first camping trip. While exploring in the woods on Marsh Island, they lose their way. When the boys start to feel like they're not the only ones wandering in the woods, they begin to wonder if the story their dad told them about old Alfred Marsh and his lost fortune is true.

It's the most talked about trophy in Howling—The Wassabbee! And it goes to the winner of the annual fathers versus sons hockey game. This year the fathers are in trouble, so they've changed the rules. The game won't be played indoors. It's going to be held outside, at a weekend campout. In the middle of the winter! Johnny Maverick and his friends …

Edward is a classic slacker. He's got better ways to spend his time than toiling over homework, and as long as he gets passing grades he's happy. When his fifty percent average is threatened he has to find a way to pull up his grades without applying himself. Edward discovers that special education students get more time to complete tests, and he t …

After being the victim of an armed robbery, Sean should be terrified but he isn't. He finds he likes the rush that comes from danger and tries to recreate the feeling. But when his risktaking leads him to some of the worst parts of town and he finds himself face-to-face with the original armed robbers he finds he must do the right thing.

Lizzie Lane is used to life at the top of the food chain. Her near-perfect life is ruined when Rachel, a girl she socially destroyed, exacts her revenge by getting Lizzie in trouble for cheating on a test. Friendless and facing detention, Lizzie obsesses over finding the perfect revenge. When Stella, Lizzie's strange new neighbor, teaches Lizzie ab …

Emery's neighbor, Richard, is the kind of kid who gets under your skin. When Richard suggests a game of "Nicky Nicky Nine Doors," Emery can't come up with a good excuse not to play. Using chocolate bars as "stunt poo," the boys start playing the classic prank of the burning bag on the doorstep, but this game has a modern twist. They videotape their …

Something sinister happened to Mackenzie's twin sister Breanne the last time the two girls were in Ireland. Now they're back and the winter solstice is approaching. Breanne scoffs at their elderly relatives' tales of fair folk and banshees and the thin barrier between two worlds, but Mackenzie remembers what happened to Breanne five years before, a …

When Mike Longridge gets himself in trouble yet again, he is given a choice: juvenile detention or an outdoor program called Explore. He opts for Explore, but soon finds himself wondering how he is going to survive ten months with the hippies and keeners in the program. He's never felt so out of place and is certain he will never get the hang of th …

Something sinister happened to Mackenzie's twin sister Breanne the last time the two girls were in Ireland. Now they're back and the winter solstice is approaching. Breanne scoffs at their elderly relatives' tales of fair folk and banshees and the thin barrier between two worlds, but Mackenzie remembers what happened to Breanne five years before, a …

Dance Baby Dance is an enchanting first book for babies. The rolling, rollicking poetry, paired with colorful and diverse photographic images of babies with their friends and families, is the perfect companion to Welcome Song for Baby: A lullaby for newborns (Orca 2007).

Dante thinks high school is an earthly version of hell. She hates her new home in the suburbs, her best friend has moved away, her homeroom teacher mocks her and her mother is making her attend a social skills group for teenage girls. When a stranger shows up at school and hands Dante a flyer that reads: Woof, woof. You are not a dog. Why are you g …

Junior Canadian Ranger Tommy Toner has a terrible secret. During the annual JCR summer camp in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, he plays a prank which has unexpected and destructive results. Ashamed and afraid of what people will think, he keeps quiet, even though the guilt eats away at him. Tommy and his old friends Colly and Jaz team up to take part …