The Orca Soundings series is a set of hi-lo fiction with an interest level of ages 12 up. Reading levels for each title are available on the Orca site.
Teacher guides for Orca Soundings are available as pdfs on the Orca web site.
Battle of the Bands by
Jay, Kelvin and Cia are The Lunar Ticks, a dedicated band who are convinced they are on their way up. They hope to win an upcoming battle of the bands where the first prize is a full day in a recording studio. Jay is struggling to write new material but finds he lacks the experience to come up with a truly original song. Going up against Indigo Daze, a band from another school, Jay finds himself falling for Rowan, the leader of the other band. When Rowan's guitar is trashed right before the contest The Lunar Ticks are the prime suspects. Fry Reading Level: 2.9
Comeback by
Ria is rich, slim, pretty, popular. If you only knew her at school, you'd think she led a charmed life--and until recently you'd have been right. But her situation has taken a sudden, unfortunate change. Her parents' seemingly perfect marriage has broken up, and before she's had a chance to absorb the blow, her beloved father disappears in a plane crash. What's worse, rumors begin to surface that he may have perpetrated a multimillion-dollar investment scam and everybody--Ria's mother, her best friends, even her boyfriend--believes them. Ria sees no choice but to take her little brother and run. She vows to keep the memory of her father alive. Soon, though, she begins to wonder: is her memory playing tricks on her--or is he? Fry Reading Level: 3.2
Damage by
What starts as a harmless road trip becomes a desperate search for the truth. It's an ordinary nightmare of a family trip until Theo realizes that the beautiful girl beside the hotel pool is his childhood babysitter--and his first crush. Theo hasn't seen Ronnie for five years, but when she invites him to go with her--and her toddler son, Zach--on a road trip, he leaps at the opportunity to ditch his parents and head to Hollywood. They've only gone a few miles before Theo begins to regret his impulsive decision. Zach cries nonstop, and when they get pulled over by the police, Ronnie is clearly terrified. She says her ex-boyfriend is a cop and that he is looking for her. Theo wants to trust her, but he suspects she is hiding something. And when they reach Los Angeles and she disappears, leaving him to look after Zach, he needs to find out the truth--and decide where his loyalties lie.
He Who Dreams by
Juggling soccer, school, friends and family leaves John with little time for anything else. But one day at the local community center, following the sound of drums, he stumbles into an Indigenous dance class. Before he knows what's happening, John finds himself stumbling through beginner classes with a bunch of little girls, skipping soccer practice and letting his other responsibilities slide. When he attends a pow wow and witnesses a powerful performance, he realizes that he wants to be a dancer more than anything. But the nearest class for boys is at the Native Cultural Center in the city, and he still hasn't told his family or friends about his new passion. If he wants to dance, he will have to stop hiding. Between the mocking of his teammates and the hostility of the boys in his dance class, John must find a way to balance and embrace both the Irish and Cree sides of his heritage.
Tagged by
The city is cracking down on graffiti and guerilla art. Between that and cutbacks to the local art gallery it seems like nothing is safe. But Oswald, masquerading as a graffiti artist known as The Wiz, is fighting back--by painting elaborate murals in public places and planting art in the galleries, and then by taking on the mayor himself. As the fight escalates and the stakes become higher, Oswald gets in deeper than he meant to and needs to rely on his friends to get him out of his latest mess.
Orca Soundings Resource Guide by
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 material that will engage their most reluctant of readers. Orca has always provided professionally written teachers guides to accompany these books. Now we offer a complete resource guide to enable classroom integration of these popular titles. Including sections on reading levels, book discussion groups, literacy circles, assessment and follow-up activities, this resource guide enables a teacher to implement the Orca Soundings and Orca Currents series as part of a comprehensive independent reading and literacy unit.