Benched
When Cody and his friends accept a challenge from a local gang to steal a park bench, their main concern is keeping themselves on the gang's good side.
Cody learns that the stolen bench had been dedicated to the father of the English teacher who sponsors the school newspaper—the paper that Cody has just started writing for—and he's worried about …
Cheat
Laurel, caught up in the thrill of an investigation, is willing to risk her reputation to get the story, but her ultimate discovery changes everything.
Laurel discovers her passion for investigative journalism when she writes an article for her school paper about a person experiencing homelessness who's been living at the school. Eager to write more …
Fast Slide
Clay would much rather work as a lifeguard at the beach than at Safari Splash, the new water park in town.
Clay is certain the summer will drag along, despite his position at the Boa, the park's fastest slide. The summer job starts to get interesting when he learns that someone has been wandering the park in a lynx costume, scaring the staff. When f …
The Snowball Effect
Dylan and his friends snowball cars for entertainment on the weekend.
When they don't get enough reaction from passing cars, they put rocks in the middle of their snowballs. Their first attack with the loaded snowballs causes a car crash. His friends flee, but Dylan goes to the scene of the accident to make sure the driver is okay. He runs off when …
See No Evil
When Shawn and Daniel witness a gang beating behind the local mall they flee the scene, terrified that they've been seen.
They recognize one of the attackers as a locally infamous gang member. When they learn that the kid who was attacked is in critical condition, Shawn wants to go to the police, but Daniel convinces him that they are in more danger …
Slick
Liza, determined to prove that her mother's boyfriend is no good, starts researching the oil company he works for.
Liza discovers a lawsuit against the company for compensation that is long overdue to Guatemalan farmers. She starts a group at school called GRRR! (Girls for Renewable Resources, Really!) and launches an attack on Argenta Oil. As her a …
Fly Away
After a member of her competitive cheerleading team is injured in practice, sixteen-year-old Marnie is asked to be a flyer-the most coveted role in cheerleading.
The Soar Starlings team has a real shot at the provincial championship, and Marnie has only a few weeks to prepare. But as she scrambles to polish her lifts and throws, Marnie's personal li …
Boarder Patrol
Ryan is determined to be a professional snowboarder but he's learned from what happened to his whistle-blower father that doing the right thing doesn't always pay off.
When his parents leave Kamloops, Ryan decides to stay with relatives so he can be near the Salmon Valley Ski Resort. He spends all his time at the ski hill, volunteering with the Jun …
Blob
It's hard enough for Eve to adjust to a new high school without the extra weight she's gained over the summer.
Her best friend is ashamed to hang out with her, and she's become the focus of a schoolmate's cruelty. Determined not to be "that pathetic fat girl" at school, Eve struggles with a diet and forces herself to join a mentoring program. The di …
Bear Market
While volunteering at the local zoo, Robyn, Nick and Trevor learn that grizzly bears are being poached.
The bears' gallbladders are being removed for use in alternative medicine. Always ready to solve a mystery, the kids set out to find the poachers. Bear is not only big game, they learn, but big money to poachers. The stakes are high and the suspec …
Branded
The principal announces that the school is implementing uniforms, and Ian finds himself caught in a conflict.
Julia, the student body president and Ian's friend, wants Ian to devise a plan to fight the decision, but the principal is determined to convince Ian the uniforms are a good idea. Ian doesn't see the problem with uniforms and wants nothing t …
Reckless
Josh knows he's riding recklessly when he knocks down the old man he suspects is the hermit of Loggerman Creek.
Josh is shocked when the hermit walks into the forest with his bike after the accident. Being without his beloved bike for a week motivates him to hike into the woods and confront the crazy old man. The hermit, Jonathan, has fixed Josh's b …
Dog Walker
Turk needs cash, but he's allergic to his own sweat, so getting a job is out of the question.
Then Turk makes an important discovery: Girls love dogs. And Turk's friends will do anything to meet girls. So Turk starts a dog walking business. His friends walk the dogs and Turk collects half the money. In an attempt to impress dog-loving Carly, Turk br …
Fraud Squad
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 what …
Oil King Courage
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 …
Junkyard Dog
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 …
The Big Dip
Joe and his friend Skip are enjoying the thrill of the Big Dip, a famous rollercoaster, until they learn the old man in front of them has been shot.
The old man mutters with his dying breath something about getting a Margaret Rose to the police. Joe leaves the crime scene to get on with his life. But someone is desperate for the Margaret Rose and th …
Razor's Edge
Travis and his best friends Ryan and Jasper live for the thrill of watching their horses race.
When a thief starts hacking off the tails of Standard-bred horses stabled at Blackdown Park, suddenly the track isn't such a great place to hang out. Things get even more unpleasant when a troubled girl comes between Travis and his friends. Travis has to m …
Perfect Revenge
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 abo …
Absolute Pressure
Ian has been going to Key West every summer for years, helping his Uncle Gord at his dive shop and spending as much time as he can underwater.
When he's not scuba diving, he's admiring Sherri, the girl who works at the dive shop, and wondering how she would feel if he told her that he tastes blackberries whenever he sees her. A series of accidents l …
Explore
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 the …
Nine Doors
Key Selling Points
- New, enhanced features (dyslexia-friendly font, cream paper, larger trim size) to increase reading accessibility for dyslexic and other striving readers.
- Vicki Grant is the author of many books including In the Buff, Hold the Pickles and Pigboy in the Orca Currents line.
Special Edward
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 th …
Slam Dunk
Sixteen-year-old Salvador "Slam" Amaro thinks being the assistant coach of the Brookfield High School girls' basketball team will be an easy gig.
Slam plans to show up, run a few drills and pad his resumé so he can win a spot on the Ontario Provincial Under-17 team. But his job suddenly gets a lot harder when the girls' coach and her daughter, the …
Paralyzed
Linebacker Reggie Scott is forced to deal with the repercussions of an incident that shakes his belief in the game he loves.
When Reggie is persecuted by angry fans for being a "dirty" player, Reggie is forced to confront his own guilt and decide whether he can continue to play his senior season and beyond.
This short novel is a high-interest, low-re …
Bio-pirate
Trevor, Robyn and Nick decide they have a mystery to solve when Trevor discovers a suspicious-looking young man snooping around.
The three learn about missing research involving the use of carob beans to aid in cancer treatment-potentially valuable information. With a shady-looking grad student, a bitter activist, and an employee of a medical resear …
In a Flash
The first flash mob Ian puts together himself is a sixty-plus person, four-minute pillow fight in a department store.
Ian's friend Oswald is thrilled with the event, but Julia, the one Ian really wants to impress, is still convinced that flash mobs are stupid. While Ian tries to prove Julia wrong by initiating flash mobs with political impact, Julia …
Skate Freak
Dorf is all about skateboarding and so far that's worked out fine.
But now that he's in a new city, the terrain has changed. He's no longer free to skateboard where he wishes, school is more difficult, and his passion for skateboarding garners him the nickname and reputation of a freak. With daring stunts he gains the grudging respect of local troub …
Marked
Colin didn't think getting a job would make him a suspect in a series of robberies.
When Colin accepts the job to clean up the graffiti in an upscale neighborhood he worries that he might be targeted by gangs. But every time he is sent to clean up graffiti, the police are nearby investigating a crime. Colin knows he's done nothing wrong, but even he …
Crossover
Fifteen-year-old Kyle Evans has been a jock for years—a triple-threat basketball player who can dribble, pass or shoot with considerable skill.
But once he decides to try out for the school musical production at Sainsbury High, Kyle finds there is much more to life than hightops and hookshots. Conflicting priorities cause problems between Kyle and …
Dead in the Water
Despite his father's opposition, Simon "Spacey" Drake is determined to become a long-distance sailor, so he signs up for a week-long live-aboard sailing course.
The trip gets off to a rough start, but the real trouble begins when Simon and Olivia, another student, get curious about a nearby cabin cruiser in an anchorage. They investigate and stumble …
121 Express
The students of the 121 Express are infamous for bad behavior and Lucas knows his role on the bus will determine his social standing at his new school.
Lucas is tired of being one of the nerds. When he attracts the negative attention of the cool troublemakers, he saves himself by teasing another kid. His ploy works and soon Lucas is right in the cen …
