Stuff We All Get

By K.L. Denman

Fifteen-year-old Zack finds a home made CD with the word Famous written on it. Lonely and bored while suspended from school, he puts the CD on and loses himself in the music. Zack has sound-color synesthesia. He sees colors when he hears music, and the music on the Famous CD causes incredible patterns of color for him. Zack becomes obsessed with the girl on the CD and tries to find her. He tracks down the singer, Jolene, in a cafe where she works while she dreams of the big time. He convinces her to let him help her achieve her dreams, but soon discovers that in her quest for fame, Jolene has done a lot of damage. Stuff We All Get is a gentle critique of celebrity culture in North America.

Also available in French.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Sep 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781554698233

K.L. Denman

K.L. Denman a écrit de nombreux romans pour la jeunesse, notamment Destination Human et Agent Angus publiés par Orca. Bon nombre de ses ouvrages ont figuré aux palmarès des meilleurs livres de l’année, et Me, Myself and Ike a été finaliste au Prix littéraire du Gouverneur général. K.L. Denman vit à Delta, en Colombie-Britannique.

Book preview

Stuff We All Get

K.L. Denman

ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

Copyright © 2011 K.L. Denman

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Denman, K. L., 1957-

Stuff we all get [electronic resource] / K.L. Denman.

(Orca currents)

Type of computer file: Electronic monograph in PDF format.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN 978-1-55469-822-6

I. Title. II. Series: Orca currents (Online)

PS8607.E64S78 2011A       JC813’.6       C2011-903347-X

First published in the United States, 2011 Library of Congress Control Number: 2011929249

Summary: Fifteen-year-old Zack, a sound-color synesthete, is on a mission to find a musician he relates to.

Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has printed this book on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council®.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Cover photography by Getty Images

Author photo by Jasmine Kovac

www.orcabook.com

Printed and bound in Canada.

14 13 12 11 • 4 3 2 1

For Gary,

our geocaching guide

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

The office is a windowless gray cell. The vice-principal across the desk from me says, A one-week suspension is automatic. He jabs a skinny finger into the air. And if this offense is ever repeated, you’ll be expelled from this school. Permanently.

He levels the finger at me, and his nostrils flare. Do you understand, Zack?

I nod.

You’d better. Your conduct has placed you in a terrible position. He tells me to think about that. It doesn’t matter what provoked me, he says. I shouldn’t have acted as I did. Then he tells me to wait outside his office until he speaks to my mother.

When Mom shows up, she’s still in uniform. The stink eye she gives me lets me know I’ll be hearing plenty from her too.

As I sit on the hard chair outside the vice-principal’s door, I can’t help but think about my terrible position. It sucks.

I’ve been in this town for less than a month. My cop Mom said we’d like it better than the last place.

It’ll be different this time, she said. I’ve heard that before. I know you can make it work for you.

I’ve been trying to make it work. I wanted to play on the basketball team, but it was too late in the season for new players. I joined the lunch league instead. Yesterday I also joined them in wearing thong underwear. All the guys were wearing them, like NBA players, and when I tried them, I got it. They’re perfect for basketball.

Play during yesterday’s game was intense. People were watching and yelling from the stands. We were in the final seconds and ahead by only one point. The other team was on the offensive, and I was playing D. When one of them went up for a shot, I blocked him. I stopped the shot all right. But when he came back down, he took my shorts down with him. I don’t know if it was on purpose or what, but my bare butt was out there.

When I reached for my shorts to yank them back up, I stumbled. I ended up hopping around trying to regain my balance. Everyone laughed, and someone snapped a picture. And the other team scored, so we lost the game.

The jerk who took the picture, Pete, probably had it online before we left the change room. By this morning, everyone at school had seen it. I didn’t think many people knew my name, but they do now. And they’ve had a lot to say about my anatomy.

Even Charo, a girl who’s been friendly, was giggling about what great pictures I take. One of the girls in her group asked if I wanted the photo to

Reviews for Stuff We All Get

[ekanderson_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This new novel in the Orca Currents line is exactly what Orca Currents promises -- fast, fun, and engaging. Following the story of Zack, a fifteen-year-old who has just moved with his police officer mom to a new town and a new school, STUFF WE ALL GET is a story of expulsion, assumption, revelation, and redemption.It all starts when Zack gets in a fight with this kid at school. And, during his week at home, where he is, obviously, grounded, Zack's mom thinks it might be fun to take up geocaching -- a hobby where people use GPS trackers to find hidden treasure all over the world. There are several caches in Zack's new town, and, reluctantly -- if only to get out of the house (and his chores) -- he joins his mom for an "adventure." But then, in the cache's SWAG (Stuff We All Get) -- which is less hidden treasure, Zack thinks, and more just a bunch of random junk -- there's a CD with just the word "famous" written on it in black marker. Soon, Zack is entranced by the songs on the CD. And he's determined to find the girl singing. So determined, in fact, it's all he can think about.This fun, sweet story by K.L. Denman, targeted at reluctant teen readers, is a great addition to the Orca Currents line. Readers who enjoy stories about music and small town adventures will surely be charmed.