Orca Young Readers

Addison Addley hates math.

He hates public speaking too. Actually, he hates anything that involves work, but he only has a couple of weeks to write and memorize his grade five speech. The problem is, he can't think of a single topic. When he finally comes up with an excellent idea for a speech, it almost writes itself, but it's his poor math skills that make speech day unforgettable.

When we last saw Jo, she was fresh from her triumph as a Pony Express rider who has managed to foil a robbery and collect a reward big enough that she can afford the coach fare to California. This is lucky for her, since it is just when the telegraph is about to make the Express and its riders redundant. So now she and Bart, another young rider, are working in a livery stable in San Francisco. A funny place for a girl, you say? You bet! But Jo has...

Eleven-year-old Bree is happiest when she's climbing the trees at Cedar Grove, her urban townhouse complex. She's the best climber around, even better than an older boy, Tyler, who drives her crazy with his competitiveness. When Ethan, a younger boy, falls from a tree and hurts his elbow, the neighborhood council bans all tree-climbing in Cedar Grove. If Bree chooses to ignore the bylaw, her family could be kicked out of their home, so she vows to...