Today I am getting my Laser ready for the first sail of the season. Tamara will be coming along. It’s warm for a change and the sun is out. My boat always makes me think of my father. The pain never really goes away. You just learn to live with it.
But when I spot Tamara, making her way down to the boat launch, the pain starts to fade. My father always told me to trust my instincts. And that is what I did when I first came upon Tamara and her family on the open ocean. I knew what I had to do. I think that decision was a gift from my father.
It’s a lot like sailing. There is no such thing as a straight path to a destination. You have to tack—back and forth—working the wind for all it’s worth. And watching Tamara walk towards me, I already feel like I’m flying over the waves, leaning far over the side. The sail is full, stretched tight. And all I have to do is hang on tight and remember what my father taught me—never fight against the wind. Find its strength and make it work for you.
Orca soundings
Available now!
Death Wind
William Bell
Allie’s life has taken a turn for the worse—her parents fight all the time and she thinks she is pregnant. Unable to face her parents, she runs away. She hooks up with her old friend Razz, a professional skateboarder, and goes on the road—right into the path of a fierce tornado. To survive in the horror and destruction that follow the storm, Allie has to call on an inner strength she didn’t know she had.
William Bell is the bestselling author of a number of teen novels. A former teacher, William Bell lives in Orillia, Ontario.
Orca soundings
Sticks and Stones
Beth Goobie
Jujube is thrilled when Brent asks her out. She is not so happy when the rumors start flying at school. Pretty soon her name is showing up on bathroom walls and everyone is snickering and sniping. Deciding that someone has to take a stand, Jujube gathers all the other girls who are labeled sluts – and worse—and tries to impress on her fellow students the damage that can be done by assigning a label that reduces a person to an object.
Beth Goobie is an award-winning author of a number of books for teens. Her most recent book, Before Wings, won the CLA YA Book Award, was a Governor General’s Award nominee, an ALA Best Book nominee and a Teen Top Ten.
Orca soundings
Orca Soundings is a new teen fiction series that features realistic teenage characters in stories that focus on contemporary situations and problems.
Soundings are short, thematic novels ideal for class or independent reading. Written by such stalwart teen authors as William Bell, Sheree Fitch and Beth Goobie, there will be between eight and ten new titles a year.
For more information on the Orca Soundings series or other Orca titles, please call Orca Book Publishers at 1-800-210-5277.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve