Each month, #BuyIndiePress puts the spotlight on indie books from a handful of small presses and the like. All of the details are at the Buy Indie Press page.
Today, I want to put the spotlight on ten Orca Book Publishers stories (novellas and novels) that interest me and ask you to help me pick a few titles to read! To my knowledge, I’ve never read a book from Orca Book Publishers and I’ve also never read a book from any of the authors listed below so I’m very interested in diving in to see what kinds of books they are proud to publish. Let me know on Twitter or comment below with what Orca Book Publishers title(s) you think I should check out!
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Founded in 1984, Orca Book Publishers is an independently owned Canadian children’s book publisher. With over 730 titles in print and more than 65 new titles a year, Orca publishes award-winning, best-selling books in a number of genres.
Ten Books From Orca Book Publishers That Intrigue Me
1. Whisper by Chris Struyk-Bonn (@ChrisStruykbonn)
Released April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1459804753
Sixteen-year-old Whisper, who has a cleft palate, lives in an encampment with three other young rejects and their caregiver, Nathanael. They are outcasts from a society (in the not-too-distant future) that kills or abandons anyone with a physical or mental disability. Whisper’s mother visits once a year.
When she dies, she leaves Whisper a violin, which Nathanael teaches her to play. Whisper’s father comes to claim her, and she becomes his house slave, her disfigurement hidden by a black veil. But when she proves rebellious, she is taken to the city to live with other rejects at a house called Purgatory Palace, where she has to make difficult decisions for herself and for her vulnerable friends.
2. If It Bleeds by Linda L. Richards (@lindalrichards)
Released September 1, 2014
Nicole Charles didn’t go to journalism school to become a gossip columnist, but the job fell into her lap right out of school and her immigrant work ethic just won’t let her quit to find something she’d like better. It’s a good job, but she struggles with the stigma attached to her position by other reporters. More than anything, she wants to be a real reporter, but it looks like she’s never going to get a chance.
Then one night while covering a gallery opening, she discovers a dead body in a dark alley. An upand- coming artist has been stabbed in the throat with an antique icepick. Nicole is right in the middle of the biggest story of the year. It’s the chance of a lifetime. Too bad someone had to die to make it happen.
If It Bleeds is the first novel in a series of mysteries featuring rookie reporter Nicole Charles.
3. Love You to Death by Gail Bowen
Released April 1, 2010
Charlie D is the host of a successful late-night radio call-in show. His listeners have a particularly intimate relationship with him and often reveal much about themselves, confident that he will honor their trust and that he can save them. In their minds, he is perfect: one of life’s winners. But Charlie feels he’s something of a fake. His easy confidence on-air belies the reality for a man born with a wine-colored birthmark that covers half his face.
4. Search and Rescue by Gail Anderson-Dargatz (@AndersonDargatz)
Released September 1, 2014
When a young woman goes missing on a nature trail, small-town journalist Claire Abbott is first on the scene, as usual. The clues to the woman’s whereabouts are misleading, but Claire has a sixth sense–what the fire chief calls a “radar for crime.” Trusting her intuition, Claire insists that the search and rescue team look elsewhere for clues to the woman’s disappearance. When they fail to follow up on her lead, she pursues it on her own, embarking on a snowy chase up a mountainside that puts herself and others in danger. She’s more than just a journalist chasing a story. Claire is determined to do the right thing at any cost.
Search and Rescue is the first novel in a series of mysteries featuring journalist and sleuth Claire Abbott.
5. Are You Seeing Me? by Darren Groth (@darrengroth)
Released August 16, 2015
Twins Justine and Perry have left their home in Australia and embarked on the road trip of a lifetime. For Perry, the trip is a celebration of some of his favorite things: Ogopogo, Jackie Chan and earthquakes. For Justine, it’s an opportunity to learn how to let go–of Perry, of her boyfriend, Marc–and to offer their mother the chance to atone for past wrongs.
6. At the Edge of the World by Kari Jones
Releases October 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-1459810624
Maddie and Ivan have been friends forever. They go to school together, surf, party, and hang out all the time. Ivan eats at Maddie’s house almost every day. But all is not well in Ivan’s world, and as control of his life slips farther away from him, Maddie agonises over her role in his life. Ivan fears the fallout if the people in his community discover what he’s been hiding, but Maddie thinks telling his secret will help him.
As Maddie struggles to figure out her own post-high-school path, she worries about how to deal with the things she knows about Ivan’s life. Is she a keeper of his secrets? Should she help him hide what’s going on in his family? Or should she tell someone and get help? What does betrayal look like when your best friend is in trouble?
7. Dancing Naked by Shelley Hrdlitschka
Released March 1, 2002
ISBN: 978-1551432106
Kia is sixteen and pregnant. Her world crumbles as she attempts to come to terms with the life growing inside her and what she must do. Initially convinced that abortion is her only option, Kia comes to understand that for her, the answers are not always black and white. As the pregnancy progresses, Kia discovers who her real friends are and where their loyalties lie.
It is through her relationship with the elderly Grace that she learns what it means to take responsibility for one’s life and the joy that can come from trusting oneself. Faced with the most difficult decision of her life, Kia learns that the path to adulthood is not the easily navigable trail she once thought, but a twisting labyrinth where every turn produces a new array of choices, and where the journey is often undertaken alone.
Notable Mention: Kat’s Fall by Shelley Hrdlitschka
8. Death Benefits by Sarah N. Harvey
Released October 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1554692262
Royce (aka Rolly) is having a bad year. Not only has his mother dragged him across the country in order to be close to her aged father Arthur, a celebrated cellist, but he’s also recovering from mono. When he convinces his mother to let him finish the school year by correspondence, he’s left feeling isolated and lonely, and spends his time watching TV and plotting ways to get back to his friends in Nova Scotia. But before his plans can be implemented, his grandfather has a small stroke. Suddenly Arthur needs more care than Royce’s mother can provide and, after a couple of hired care aides quit, Royce is pressed into service.
Looking after a ninety-five-year-old–especially one as cantankerous, crafty and stubborn as Arthur–is a challenge. But as Royce gets to know the eccentric old man–who loves the Pussycat Dolls, hates Anderson Cooper and never listens to the kind of music that made him famous–he gradually comes to appreciate that his grandfather’s life still has meaning. Even if Arthur himself seems to want it to end.
Notable Mention: Spirit Level by Sarah N. Harvey
9. Tweaked by Katherine Holubitsky
Released April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1551438511
Sixteen-year-old Gordie Jessup is a good kid but he’s living a nightmare. His eighteen-year-old brother Chase’s two-year addiction to crystal meth has left their family emotionally and financially drained. And just when Gordie thinks he can no longer stand the manipulating, the lying and the stealing, things get even worse. Chase is arrested for aggravated assault, released on bail and sent home to his family. But his dealers are after him and Chase appeals to Gordie for help. Gordie, disgusted with his brother and fully aware that it’s a gamble, risks everything he has in the hope of bringing his family some peace.
10. What Is Real by Karen Rivers (@karenrivers)
Released May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1554693566
Dex Pratt’s life has been turned upside down. His parents have divorced and his mother has remarried. When his father attempts suicide and fails, Dex returns to their small town to care for him. But heis not prepared for how much everything has changed. Gone are the nice house, new cars, fancy bikes and other toys. Now he and his wheelchair-bound dad live in a rotting rented house at the back of a cornfield. And, worse, his father has given up defending marijuana growers in his law practice and has become one himself.
Unable to cope, Dex begins smoking himself into a state of surrealism. He begins to lose touch with what is real and what he is imagining. And then there are the aliens…and the girl-of-his-dreams…and the crop circle O.
What books from Orca Book Publishers have you read and loved or added to your TBR list?