Orca recently returned from the International Reading Association conference in New Orleans, and were able to fit in some jazz, beignets and po’ boys in between speaking with educators from all over North America. There was a great energy at the show this year (maybe the marching band that kicked things off had something to do with it?) and as always, we loved seeing old faces and meeting news ones.
Show highlights
Acclaimed YA author Deborah Ellis signed copies of her new book, Moon at Nine (published by Pajama Press and distributed by Orca) on Saturday and gave a number of excellent presentations throughout the conference.Set in Iran in 1988, Moon at Nine tells the story of fifteen-year-old Farrin who goes to a school for gifted girls in Tehran. The day she meets Sadira, Farrin’s life changes forever. But as their friendship deepens into romance, the relationship turns dangerous as it is against the law to be a homosexual in Iran. Based on real-life events, Deborah Ellis’s new book is a tense and riveting story about a world where homosexuality is considered so abhorrent that it is punishable by death.
Got struggling readers?
We had a number of educators come straight to our booth looking for books for their struggling or reluctant readers. Others were attracted by our banner about struggling readers. Did you know that Orca has been providing struggling readers with quality fiction for over a decade? Our fiction for reluctant readers is written between grade levels 2.0 and 5.0, and each series is tailored to a different audience as follows:Orca Soundings feature realistic contemporary fiction for teen reluctant readers.
Orca Currents feature entertaining ficiton for middle school reluctant readers.
Orca Sports cater to the reluctant reader who is interested in Sports
Rapid Reads are short novels for adults.
For a complete list of our reluctant readers titles, check out our educational catalog.
We had a great time at IRA this year and look forward to next year in St. Louis, Missouri!
