Sink or Swim

By Tash McAdam

Sixteen-year-old shy, socially awkward trans teen Bass reluctantly skips school and goes on a boat trip with his adventure-seeking girlfriend, Rosie. When a sudden storm smashes their boat on a rocky shore off a deserted island, Bass and Rosie struggle to make it to safety. Bruised and battling hypothermia, the pair have to seek shelter and work together to survive until they can be rescued. After a horrible night, Rosie, an experienced climber, decides to scale a steep cliff to find help. She falls and injures herself badly. Now Bass has to find the strength and courage to swim around a dangerous headland and make his way back to civilization before it’s too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Aug 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781459828537

Tash McAdam

Tash McAdam is a Welsh Canadian author of several books for young people, including The Psionics series and the bestselling Blood Sport and Sink or Swim in the Orca Soundings line. Tash identifies as trans and queer and uses the neutral pronoun they. They teach high school English and computer science and have a couple of black belts in karate. They live in Vancouver.

Book preview

images/cover.jpgimages/img-2-1.jpgimages/img-4-1.jpg

Copyright © Tash McAdam 2021

Published in Canada and the United States in 2021 by Orca Book Publishers.

orcabook.com

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

Title: Sink or swim / Tash McAdam.

Names: McAdam, Tash, author.

Series: Orca soundings.

Description: Series statement: Orca soundings

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2021009513X | Canadiana (ebook) 20210095156 |

ISBN

9781459828513 (softcover) |

ISBN

9781459828520 (

PDF

) |

ISBN

9781459828537 (

EPUB

)

Classification:

LCC

PS8626.

C

33

S

56 2021 |

DDC

jc813/.6—dc23

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020951468

Summary: In this high-interest accessible novel for teen readers, trans teen Bass and his girlfriend, Rosie, have to battle the elements to survive.

Orca Book Publishers is committed to reducing the consumption of nonrenewable resources in the making of our books. We make every effort to use materials that support a sustainable future.

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

Edited by Tanya Trafford

Design by Ella Collier

Cover photography by Stocksy.com/Mark Windom (front) and

Shutterstock.com/Krasovski Dmitri (back)

Printed and bound in Canada.

24 23 22 21 • 1 2 3 4

Orca Book Publishers is proud of the hard work our authors do and of the important stories they create. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it or did not check it out from a library provider, then the author has not received royalties for this book. The ebook you are reading is licensed for single use only and may not be copied, printed, resold or given away. If you are interested in using this book in a classroom setting, we have digital subscriptions with multi user, simultaneous access to our books, or classroom licenses available for purchase. For more information, please contact [e-mail].

ivaluecanadianstories.ca

For all the youth at the Gender

Generations Project (formerly known

as the Trans Tipping Point):

You amaze me.

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 One

It’s a beautiful day for a first date. The sky is a clear blue almost all the way to the horizon. Far in the distance, dark clouds cover the mountains. Past the shoreline waves, the ocean is as smooth as silk. Bass slips for the third time as his old sneakers hit a wet patch of seaweed. He skids and almost drops his end of the heavy boat he and Rosie are carrying. Cursing, he tries to ignore the view and concentrates on putting one foot in front of the other. Only ten yards to the water. He can make it, even if his fingers do feel like they’re about to be ripped off. Sweat runs down his face, stinging his eyes. His multicolored hair is plastered to his forehead. Bet I look great, he thinks sadly. On the bright side, it’s always windy on the coast, so Rosie already knows what he looks like with a mop on his head.

Take a deep breath, Bass. You look like you’re about to collapse, Rosie says. She lets go of the boat with her right hand to sweep her fringe out of her eyes. Of course, she can hold the boat with one hand. She’s stronger than Bass, even if he’s much bigger. Her strength comes from all the time she spends climbing and throwing heavy metal things around. She’s one of the best hammer throwers in the province. Bass’s favorite sports are all played with a controller and a headset. Online gaming is not so great for building up your biceps.

Bass nods and inhales deeply. A deep breath of ocean air fills his lungs and helps settle his nervous stomach. His feet slip again on the slimy seaweed coating the smooth rocks, but he doesn’t fall. Rosie grins at him, her round face glowing with excitement.

This is going to be great! No one will even notice we’re gone. You know Old Jack never takes this boat out anymore. I steal it all the time! Rosie