Networking and Parallel/Distributed Computing 2011

A real author is coming to visit Mrs. Green's class. That means Hubie needs to read her books. But how can he pick one when there are so many to choose from? And what will happen on the day of the vis

In this empowering and progressive retelling of Snow White, two young women must find where their loyalties lie. "Hauntingly evocative."-Kirkus, starred review Mature content

Beauty is much more than how one looks on the outside. True beauty is found in conquering challenges, showing kindness, and spreading contagious laughter. Beautiful girls are empowered, smart, and rea

Favorite author Beverly Cleary has been awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for 40 years of distinguished writing for children, and her best-selling books about Ramona, a well-meaning but often misguided little sister, certainly fall into that category.In this Newbery Honor Book, Ramona is determined to cheer up her father after he loses his job. She practices TV commercials in hopes of earning a million dollars, but ends up insulting her teacher instead - and getting into a prickly mess with some burrs. Then she embarks on a crusade to make her father stop smoking. Meanwhile, Mom has gone off to a full-time job, and Ramona's big sister Beezus is rumored to have "reached a difficult age." Ramona has her hands full, to be sure, but her dedication to her family won't fail.Cleary has a perfect instinct for expressing the mixed emotions that inform children's actions, and readers will identify with Ramona even while finding her predicaments hilarious. This may be some readers' first Ram

Winner of the Newbery Medal and an acknowledged landmark in children's literature, Sounder traces the keen sorrow and abiding faith of a poor African-American boy in the 19th-century South. The boy's father is a sharecropper, struggling to feed his family in hard times. Night after night, he and his great coon dog, Sounder, return to the cabin empty-handed. Then, one day, he succeeds in bringing something home. Unfortunately, the joy is short-lived: an angry sheriff and his deputies come and take the boy's father away to jail for stealing a hog. Sounder, shot in the fracas, disappears.Angry and humiliated, the boy has no choice but to begin a difficult transition to adulthood. He learns to read, and with that skill comes the beginning of greater understanding. Sounder eventually returns - emaciated, battered, but still devoted - and so does the boy's hope. Though nothing can change the hard realities of the past, he gradually finds the courage he needs to rely on his own resources and

Jemmy, who once made a meager living catching rats in the sewers, is now living in the king's castle as the whipping boy for Prince Horace, commonly known to the citizens of the kingdom as Prince Brat. Whenever the young prince misbehaves or fails his lessons, Jemmy is punished in his place, for it is illegal to spank the heir to the throne.When the prince decides to run away, he demands that Jemmy accompany him, so the two boys with nothing in common run away together. Once in the woods, Jemmy and Prince Brat are captured by two scoundrels, Hold-Your-Nose Billy and Cutwater. The scoundrels plot to use Jemmy, whom they assume is royalty because he can write, as a hostage to obtain ransom money and jewels from the king.When the two boys finally escape from the scoundrels' hut (after Prince Brat has double-crossed Jemmy), they find themselves lost in the forest. With the help of Captain Nips, seller of hot potatoes, and Petunia, the dancing bear, the boys finally escape from danger and f

Why is there no weather on the moon? Is there sound on the moon? Is it ever day on the moon? Why do astronauts bounce around on the moon? How old is the moon?From Apollo 11's first landing to the mystery of moonquakes and the genesis of craters, this stunning introduction to our nearest neighbor in space describes the moon and its all-important relationship to Earth. Mesmerizing full-color photography and an informative text perfect this exciting and educational journey in space.

Bored with her life, twelve-year-old Claudia Kincaid is ready for a big change. In fact, she wants to run away from home. But she doesn't like discomfort. She doesn't even like picnics. So an old-fashioned, knapsack kind of running away is out of the question. Instead of running from somewhere, she decides to run to somewhere - some place comfortable, and preferably beautiful. Where else, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City? Fare on the train from the suburbs takes three weeks of skipping hot fudge sundaes. Taking Jamie, the second youngest of her three brothers - the quiet one with the largest cache of money - with her, Claudia's life is immediately changed in a big way. Nights she and Jamie take baths in one of the museum's fountains and they sleep in royal beds in the museum's collection, despite the "Please do not step on the platform" sign. Every day they check out by 4:30 and reenter the museum around the back at 5:30. To remain inconspicuous, Claudia and Jamie jo

Professor Ueno's loyal Akita, Hachiko, waits for him at the train station every afternoon, and even after the professor has a fatal heart attack while at work, Hachiko faithfully continues to await his return until the day the dog dies.

Kek comes from Africa.In America, he sees the snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He's never walked on ice, and he falls. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winter - cold and unkind.In Africa, Kek lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived, and now she's missing. Kek is on his own. Slowly, he makes friends: a girl who is in foster care, and old woman who owns a rundown farm, and a cow whose name means "family" in his native language. As Kek awaits word of his mother's fate, he weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his few friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country.Bestselling author Katherine Applegate presents a beautifully wrought novel about an immigrant's journey from hardship to hope."American culture, the Minnesota climate, and personal identity are examined in this moving first-person novel written in free verse . . . Kek is both a representative of all immig

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that began on April 20, 2010, may be the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. In Oil Spill! Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, prolific nonfiction writer and Florida resident Elaine Landau gives young readers the essential facts about the spill. This book chronicles the spill's beginning, as well as efforts to stop it. It also provides an overview of the spill's expected effects, and describes what people are doing to help clean up the spill, along with suggestions on what kids can do.

Over the past several decades, our world has been warming at a faster rate than ever before. Acclaimed nonfiction author Caroline Arnold describes how the climate change has affected ecosystems around the world and how animals within these ecosystems have adapted

From puppyhood, Ellie has been trained as a search-and-rescue dog. She can track down a lost child in a forest or an injured victim under a fallen building. She finds people. She saves them. It's what she was meant to do.But Ellie must do more. Her handlers - widowed Jakob, lonely Maya - need her too. People can be lost in many ways, and to do the job she was born to do, Ellie needs to find a way to save the people she loves best.

Air-raids over London during WWII compel four siblings - Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy - to be sent away from the city to the house of a kindly but remote Professor "who lived in the heart of the country." There is much to discover in the country: woods, mountains, owls, eagles, maybe even hawks and snakes. But the children will soon discover that the Professor's large house, staffed by three servants, holds even more mystery. It is a house filled with unexpected places, including a room which holds nothing but a large wardrobe, which Lucy opens one rainy day, never dreaming that the wardrobe is a passageway into Narnia.A once peaceful world inhabited by Fauns, Dwarves, Giants, and Talking Beasts, Narnia has been frozen into perpetual winter by the fiendish White Witch who rules over it. Before long, Edmund steps into the wardrobe, and, in spite of himself, into Narnia, where he has a chilling encounter with the seductive White Witch. Soon, all of the children become embroiled in an a

Acclaimed author Beverly Cleary first introduced the irrepressible Ralph S. Mouse in her beloved The Mouse and the Motorcycle. In this award-winning sequel, Ralph points his mouse-sized red motorcycle toward a life of speed, danger, and excitement. Readers are in for a rollicking ride.Ralph is tired of being bossed around by his mother and Uncle Lester, and he's fed up with his pesky little brothers and sisters. Maybe they're happy with their lives, but Ralph is determined to grow up to be something more than just another mouse scrounging crumbs at the Mountain View Inn. He's going to run away! It's not long before the brave mouse is speeding down the open road on his bike. He finds adventure beyond his wildest dreams - and people-sized danger he never expected.Best-known for her popular Ramona stories, two of which have been named Newbery Honor Books, Beverly Cleary has been awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for 40 years of distinguished writing for children. Her ability to insti

When a stray dog comes her way, eleven-year Charlie risks everything to give Wishbone the forever home she doesn"t have. “A warm, real and heartfelt tale”-Kirkus

New York Times bestselling author Margot Lee Shetterly's book is now available in a new edition perfect for young readers. This is the amazing true story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program.Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, four African-American women who lived through the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.

A baby skunk is the friend Bixby Tam needs to cope with autism, divorced parents, and school. “Insightful.” -Publishers Weekly, starred review

Meet Jack and his talking chicken Betsy, Red, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and a host of other Little Legends as they have fantastic new adventures! Get to know your favorite fairytale characters like never before in this magical book series.Everyone in Tale Town knows that trolls mean trouble, and the Mayor and his guards have captured a fearsome troll spy. But when Jack, Red and Anansi see the prisoner, they find out the so-called spy is just a lost troll child...With the help of all their friends, the Little Legends decide to rescue the young troll and take it back to its secret mountain home. But what they find out when they get to Troll Mountain changes everything they've ever known!

Home-schooled Emma is starting public school and more than anything wants a best friend, but fate and fifth grade are not going to make it easy. “Delightful.” -Kirkus, starred review

This enduring classic tells the story of a nameless little prince from the asteroid known as B-612 who is encountered by an airplane pilot in the Desert of Sahara. The stranded pilot has crashed thousands of miles from human habitation. He must repair his plane before his small supply of water runs out. Amazingly, it is here in the middle of nowhere that the pilot is met by this little boy, dressed in high boots and a long, regal cape and claiming to be a little prince from another world.During their time together in the desert, the little prince recounts to the pilot how he has managed to leave his tiny world of asteroid B-612 and eventually make his way to the planet Earth. The little prince tells stories about the characters he has met along his journey, from the lonely king who lays claim to all the stars in the sky, to the geographer who knows nothing of the worlds around him except from what he reads in books. By the time the little prince finally leaves Earth, he has talked with

Little Koya Delaney has a knack for hiding what she truly feels with her infectious laugh that leaves everyone happy - except herself. Koya is upset by an argument that her sister Loritha had with her dear friend Dawn right before a double-dutch jump rope contest. Not sure what to do about the situation, she remains angry with the both of them, and confused by the situation. To further her bad day, her cousin Del, a rock star, comes to visit, and now her attention must be focused on him instead of Loritha and Dawn. When she sees how Del's fans react to him, she slowly learns how to get in touch with her own emotions. And although she's still angry with both Loritha and Dawn, she eventually learns how to deal with her feelings, and approach her friends in a mature way.Author Greenfield writes with candor and sensitivity, beautifully creating strong and credible characters whose struggles with their emotions are realistically portrayed. And although she puts forth several themes in this

Gilly Hopkins has been in one foster home after another. The only thing she has learned is that you have to be tough to survive. Make life difficult for everyone else, is Gilly's philosophy. But then she is housed with Bible-bashing Maime Trotter, and Maime is a large lady in every way.How can the great Gilly Hopkins be expected to tolerate an ignorant foster mother, a freaky foster brother, or the poetry-loving black man next door? At first Gilly despises them all, but finds herself slowly drawn into their circle of love. By fits and starts a change starts to happen in Gilly.Winner of the 1979 National Book Award for Children's Literature and many other distinguished awards, this 1979 Newbery Honor Book is filled with love and compassion as it tells the story of an 11-year-old girl who yearns for a real family.

Joe and Ravi might be from very different places, but they're both stuck in the same place: school.Joe's lived in the same town all his life, and was doing just fine until his best friends moved away and left him on his own. Ravi's family just moved to America from India, and he's finding it pretty hard to figure out where he fits in.Joe and Ravi don't think they have anything in common, but soon enough they have a common enemy (the biggest bully in their class) and a common mission: to take control of their lives over the course of a single crazy week.

It's city-girl Maddy's first summer in the bayou, and she just falls in love with her new surroundings - the glimmering fireflies, the glorious landscape, and something else, deep within the water, that only she can see. Could it be a mermaid?As her grandmother shares wisdom about magical sayings and signs, Maddy realizes she may be the only sibling to carry on her family's legacy. And when a disastrous oil leak threatens the bayou, she knows she may also be the only one who can help. Does she have what it takes to be a hero? Jewell Parker Rhodes weaves a rich tale celebrating the magic within.

This illustrated collection, beautifully translated by Pat Shaw Iversen, includes 47 of Hans Christian Andersen's immortal tales. From "The Snow Queen" to "The Little Mermaid," these classic tales have bewitched and enchanted readers for almost 200 years.

Complete with black-and-white interior illustrations, this engaging nonfiction book makes readers feel like they've traveled back in time. It covers everything from what passengers did for fun to how survivors escaped from the lower decks. Readers can also discover interesting, little-known facts, such as how the anchor was so heavy that it required 20 horses to lift, and how the ship's musicians continued to play on even as the ship sank.

When a cheerful old lady heads out at dusk for a walk, she runs into a series of very eerie surprises in the middle of the dark forest. Shoes with no one inside them clomp, clomp behind her. Pants with no one inside them wiggle, wiggle after her as she walks along.A shirt, gloves, and a hat all join the parade, with every article of clothing making a special spooky noise that invites kids to clank and clomp and howl along. Maybe the old lady is beginning to get a little frightened now, especially when a pumpkin head appears!The utterly satisfying conclusion of this marvelous story shows children that facing fears can often turn something that seems scary into a delightful surprise.

There's so much for these little piggies to do before their party-they have to bake the cake, decorate the house, deliver the invitations, and, most importantly, watch out for Wolf!With clever nods to

The moment they saw each other, Bean and Ivy knew they wouldn't be friends. But when Bean plays a joke on her sister, Nancy, and has to hide quickly, Ivy comes to the rescue, with her wand, some face

Bear worries when he discovers a lost toy. After all, the stuffed bunny must feel lonely and want to return safely to its owner and home! But as Bear diligently searches for the bunny's owner, posting

Three siblings enjoy the Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan-a celebration of the special relationship between brothers and sisters-in this vibrant reinterpretation of the classic song Frère Jacques (Ar

Gerald and Piggie decide to go for a drive. What could possibly go wrong?Award-winning Willems' has created an irresistible series featuring best friends Gerald and Piggie and are told with minimal text and a maximum of expression!

This book explains what your brain does night and day; it controls everything that you do!Series Information Scholastic's Time-to-Discover series has won praise from educators for its simple language,

Marvin is very unhappy and it's all Molly's fault. She had no right to eat his apple. He saw it first. He was the one who kept jumping in the air, trying to pick it from the tree. He was the one waiti

"MINE!" That's what the very greedy bee says to anyone who asks him to share. While the other bees work hard, the greedy bee is busy gobbling pollen and guzzling nectar. Until one day, the greedy bee

Bugs happily living in an empty lot are in trouble when a gang of rats moves in and takes over, but when a group of volunteers arrives to clean up, not only do the bugs get their lot back, they learn

When Julian's parents make the heartbreaking decision to send him and his two brothers away from Cuba to Miami via the Pedro Pan Operation, the boys are thrust into a new world where bullies run rampa

From rabbits to birds to mice, this board book features a wide variety of cute critters and the scrumptious foods they eat. And all the things the animals eat — carrots, berries, seeds — can be eaten

Extensive reading improves fluency and there is a real need in the ELT classroom for contemporary graded material that will stimulate students. Slumdog Millionaire - the story of a young boy from the