Books in Orca Soundings series

Seventeen-year-old Corbin plays hockey and is known as a scrapper on and off the ice. Fighting makes him feel strong. Corbin's friend, Darius, is socially adept and popular, and Darius's reckless risk-taking makes Corbin feel alive. With Rubee, a girl both boys like, Darius crosses a line, and after a party at Riley Park, Darius and Corbin are attacked. Darius is killed; Corbin is seriously injured. Corbin fights his clouded memory—he can't identify the assailants. He fights his weakened body—he can no longer play hockey. He fights the loss of his friend. But when he gives up the fight, he finds strength in acceptance.

When Daniel enters a convenience store on a secret mission, he doesn't expect to run into anyone he knows. That would ruin everything. And when Rosie enters the same store to see what her father wants, she's hoping to make a quick getaway with her waiting boyfriend. All Daniel and Rosie want is to get in and out without any trouble. Neither expects what happens next. A masked man enters the store. "This is a stickup," he announces. He has a gun and isn't afraid to use it. When he's ready to leave, he decides to take Rosie hostage. And then things get complicated…

Jennifer McCaffrey has been working hard on her art for years and is thrilled when she is accepted to a prestigious art school. The school is everything she always thought it would be, mostly. There is one group of kids who seem to resent her and say she only got in because of her skin color. Jen, who loves to create new pieces of artwork that incorporate her Indigenous heritage, finds herself a target when the group tells her to stop being “so Indian”. The night before the big art show at school, Jen’s beading art project is defaced. Jen has to find a way not to let the haters win.

When Ambrose is forced to sell his horse because of an injury, he must find a new animal that can handle the rigors of the mountains while packing for his uncleís trail-riding outfit. To save an old lady's beloved companion from the meat-buyers, Ambrose buys a horse who would be better off in retirement than climbing the treacherous trails of the Rocky Mountains. The horse, Society Girl, almost dies on the trail, and Ambrose realizes she will have to go back to the meat-auction. When Ryan, a misbehaving ten-year-old, takes the horse and disappears into the teeth of a dangerous mountain storm, Ambrose and Janice are forced to work together to find him. Will the young boy and the elderly horse survive a vicious hailstorm? Will Society Girl prove that she has a future? Will Ambrose be able to save the old horse from certain death?

Julie is tired of being tormented at school, tired of not fitting in and being the butt of jokes. When her brother brings home a camera with images of her chief tormentor in a compromising situation, she sees a way to level the playing field. When her attempt at turning the tables goes wrong, she is left even more on the outside and struggling to do the right thing. Also available in Spanish.

Tom is looking forward to spending spring break in Mexico with his girlfriend, Kat. Her father, an FBI agent, has invited Tom to join them at a fancy Cancun resort for some much-needed R&R. But when the daughter of a local law-enforcement officer goes missing, Kat's dad is pulled into the investigation. Soon after, Tom notices a yacht in the marina with a suspicious-looking crew and a kid matching the missing girl's description. Investigating further could lead Tom into the dangerous world of ruthless Mexican drug cartels. Mayan Murder continues the story started in River Traffic.

Remy has just been released from juvenile detention and is back in his old neighborhood. He went away because he severely assaulted a guy who insulted his girlfriend—Asia. As a white boy dating an immigrant, Remy has had to take a lot of the inbred racism that exists in the inner-city—from strangers, his family and even the police. When the white kids and the "outsiders" start scrapping over the local basketball court, Remy is caught between sticking up for his friends and siding with Asia, who is now seeing Marcus—the leader of the other group.

Jackson knows how to get what he wants. Whether it's sweet-talking his friends into buying lunch or convincing teachers to give him extensions, he feels entitled to take whatever he wants—even a day off school or a new pair of shoes. Now he's set his sights on Abby, a troubled girl fresh out of juvie who only has eyes for Bryce, the go-to dealer of a dangerous new drug called kryptonite.

Greg is an avid sailor. On a solo trip off the rugged Newfoundland coast, he stumbles upon a family of desperate refugees stranded in a lifeboat. Fearing for their lives if they are deported to their homeland, the family convinces Greg to help them, and keep their existence secret. He promises not to call the authorities and takes the family home. When his plan begins to unravel, and the family flees into the teeth of an oncoming storm, Greg goes after them. A thrilling story that demonstrates the importance of community and the power of conviction, Refuge Cove is also an exciting adventure.

Josh is less than thrilled that he has a new stepfather, and finds his personal habits—and his personality—irritating. When his mother leaves town, Josh is left to spend a week alone with Clay. Resenting his new living arrangements and his unorthodox home life, Josh finds himself drawn to the idea of a "regular" family and, on a whim, sneaks into a neighbor's house to see how others live. When another opportunity arises to be a fly on the wall, Josh takes it and finds himself becoming bolder. Considering it a harmless pastime, Josh continues entering people's houses, until he is witness to a violent home invasion. Josh must use all his courage to save himself and bring the home invader to justice.

Franny is close to her parents, adores her horse and is head over heels in love with her girlfriend, Leah. But Franny’s parents are abortion providers at the local hospital, and an anonymous stranger is prepared to do whatever it takes to stop them. A stranger who phones at all hours. Who knows where they live. Who knows Franny’s name. When Leah’s older brother, Jake, refers to her parents as baby killers, Franny starts to wonder if perhaps the threats aren’t coming from a stranger at all. If she tells the police about her suspicions, she could lose her girlfriend. But if she doesn’t—and if she’s right—she could lose her parents.

When Jack develops an interest in something, he puts his all into it, making lists, doing research and learning all he can. When his best friend Leah decides to have plastic surgery for her sixteenth birthday, Jack is horrified—and then determined to stop her. Researching the surgery and the results, he finds that there are unscrupulous surgeons operating on the very young, and no one does anything about it. Jack organizes a protest and becomes an instant celebrity. But when someone else takes up the cause and the protest turns violent, Jack is forced to make some tough decisions.