New Releases by ANDREW CLEMENTS

It isn’t that Abby Carson can’t do her schoolwork. She just doesn’t like doing it. And in February a warning letter arrives at her home. Abby will have to repeat sixth grade—unless she meets some specific conditions, including taking on an extra-credit project to find a pen pal in a distant country. Seems simple enough. But when Abby’s first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, the village elders agree that any letters going back to America must be written well. In English. And the only qualified student is a boy, Sadeed Bayat. Except in this village, it is not proper for a boy to correspond with a girl. So Sadeed’s younger sister will write the letters. Except she knows hardly any English. So Sadeed must write the letters. For his sister to sign. But what about the villagers who believe that girls should not be anywhere near a school? And what about those who believe that any contact with Americans is . . . unhealthy? Not so simple. But as letters flow back and forth—between the prairies of Illinois and the mountains of central Asia, across cultural and religious divides, through the minefields of different lifestyles and traditions—a small group of children begin to speak and listen to one another. And in just a few short weeks, they make important discoveries about their communities, about their world, and most of all, about themselves.

As the new Keepers of the School, sixth-graders Ben and Jill must decipher a handful of clues written as maritime riddles to save their school from demolition by a greedy company.

It was an ordinary Monday morning in Walla Walla—until Lulu walked up to her English teacher''s desk. "Mrs. Bell, I feel like a nit-wit. My homework is all higgledy-piggledy. Last night it was in tip-top shape, but not it''s a big mish-mash." With those few words, things become not so ordinary after all, for it seems that Lulu has opened up a super-duper, helter-skelter WORD WARP. Luckily for Lulu and the rest of the English-speaking world, the school nurse has an idea about how to handle this hodge-podge of topsy-turvy chit-chat. Will it work? Zig-zag through the jibber-jabber and the yakety-yak to find out!

Seventeen-year-old Gwen is preparing to audition for New York City’s top music schools when her grandfather mysteriously disappears, leaving Gwen only a phone message telling her not to worry. But there’s nothing more stressful than practicing for her auditions, not knowing where her grandfather is, and being forced to lie about his whereabouts when her insistent great-uncle demands an audience with him. Then Gwen meets Robert, also in town for music auditions, and the two pair up to brave the city without supervision. As auditions approach and her great-uncle becomes more aggressive, Gwen and Robert make a startling discovery. Suddenly Gwen’s hopes are turned upside down, and she and Robert are united in ways neither of them could have foretold. . . .

Twenty-second edition published in 1853. According to the Preface: In presenting this work to the public, the compilers would say, that they do not intend it as a rival of any other Hymn Book already in existence; but, if advancement in the light of other good works be allowable, as an improvement on them all. Although evidently designed in one sense for a denomination, they have also intended that it shall answer in some measure the demands of a liberal and progressive Christianity--a Christianity, under whatever name or pretension found, that would diffuse Christ''s spirit and do his works of truth and love among men.

Learn facts about numbers, and see one million dots!

Andrew Clements is the undisputed master of the school story. His kid-friendly humor and keen and empathetic understanding of middle-grade life and classroom dynamics have propelled his books onto both bestseller and state award lists throughout the country. Now three of his most popular school stories are available in a handsome boxed set. A WEEK IN THE WOODS Winner of two state awards THE SCHOOL STORY California Young Readers Medal THE REPORT CARD People magazine Spring''s Best Kids'' Book Parents'' Choice Award Society of School Librarians International Honor Book

Winner of American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award! Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old-boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can''t see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming-Bobby is just plain invisible. There doesn''t seem to be any rhyme or reason to Bobby''s new condition; even his dad the physicist can''t figure it out. For Bobby that means no school, no friends, no life. He''s a missing person. Then he meets Alicia. She''s blind, and Bobby can''t resist talking to her, trusting her. But people are starting to wonder where Bobby is. Bobby knows that his invisibility could have dangerous consequences for his family and that time is running out. He has to find out how to be seen again-before it''s too late.

We present a novel minimum ratio contour (MRC) algorithm, for discretely optimizing contours on the surface of triangle meshes. We compute the contour having the minimal ratio between a numerator and a denominator energy. The numerator energy measures the bending and salience (feature adaptation) of a contour, while the denominator energy measures contour length. Given an initial contour, the optimal contour within a prescribed search domain is sought. The search domain is modeled by a weighted acyclic edge graph, where nodes in the graph correspond to directed edges in the mesh. The acyclicity of this graph allows for an efficient computation of the MRC. To further improve the result, the algorithm may be run on a refined mesh to allow for smoother contours that can cut across mesh faces. Results are demonstrated for postprocessing in mesh segmentation. We also speculate on possible global optimization methods for computing a MRC.

A day spent with a young child at the beach is filled with many minor dramasa lost shoe, a ball that floats too far out into the water, a drippy ice-cream cone. These can be frustrating events for both child and parent, but the daddy in this book finds a way to fix each problem, lovingly and patiently. Why? Because he loves his little girl, of course This spot-on pairing of words and images is a warm, reassuring, and humorous tribute to dads everywhere."

Jake faces the challenge of cooperating with the school bully on a class project.

Ruthie is shy to speak out loud, but has to overcome her fear when a famous author invites her to read her poem in front of a large audience.

Mark didn''t ask to move to New Hampshire. Or to go to a hick school like Hardy Elementary. And he certainly didn''t request Mr. Maxwell as his teacher. Mr. Maxwell doesn''t like rich kids, or slackers, or know-it-alls. And he''s decided that Mark is all of those things. Now the whole school is headed out for a week of camping -- Hardy''s famous Week in the Woods. At first it sounds dumb, but then Mark begins to open up to life in the country, and he decides it might be okay to learn something new. It might even be fun. But things go all wrong for Mark. The Week in the Woods is not what anyone planned. Especially not Mr. Maxwell. With his uncanny knack to reach right to the heart of kids, Andrew Clements asks -- and answers -- questions about first impressions, fairness, loyalty, and courage -- and exactly what it takes to spend a Week in the Woods.

Shrimpy learns that even though he may be small, he can still make a big difference to his friend, Big Al.

Twelve-year-old Natalie has written a story her best friend says is good enough to publish. But how can two sixth graders conquer the tough world of children''s publishing? Illustrations.

Phil is on a mission. His absentminded little brother forgot his lunch money. All kinds of thoughts are running through Phil''s mind as he searches for Jimmy in the throngs of fourth and fifth graders crowding the school hallway:...if I''m late for math today, then I might not be allowed to take the test -- and then I could flunk math! I might even flunk sixth grade and get left back! Then Phil spots Jimmy''s one-of-a-kind jacket and rushes to the corner of the hallway. Except the person wearing it isn''t his brother; it''s some black kid Phil''s never seen before -- wearing Jimmy''s jacket! Phil makes an accusation, tempers flare, and both kids wind up in the principal''s office. How will Phil react when he finds out how Daniel came to be the owner of this unique jacket? Will Daniel be able to forgive Phil for an accusation that was based on racial prejudice? What will each boy learn about the other, and most important, about himself?

¿Inork ez zuen sekula ahaztuko Nick Allenek hirugarren urteko gela uharte tropikal bihurtu zuen eguna. Oraingoan, berriz, Nick bosgarren urtean dago eta kontua zeharo aldatu da. Denek dakite hizkuntza irakaslea hiztegi zale amorratua dela, X izpien ikusmena duela eta bere orduan inortxok ere ez duela berea egiten. Nick ahalegintzen denean, zigortu egiten du eta zigorraren ondorioz, hitzen eta haien jatorriaren munduan murgiltzen da. Horretan ari dela, plan korapilatsuagoa bururatzen zaio: hitz berri bat asmatzea...

A temple cat in ancient Egypt grows tired of being worshiped and cared for in a reverent fashion and travels to the seaside, where she finds genuine affection with a fisherman and his children.

An angel who was present at the birth of Jesus remembers that very special night, graced by heavenly light and an angelic song like the smile of God.

This magical tale of self-discovery set in the South Pacific charts the adventures of Mark, the most closeted of gay men. He is a hack journalist on a British tabloid local paper, aeroplane spotter and still a virgin at thirty. A chance reading of Robert Louis Stevenson gets him hooked on the South Pacific and he flies 12,000 miles to Samoa in search of his fantasies.

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school -- and he''s always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he''s got the inspiration for his best plan ever...the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny thing is frindle doesn''t belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there''s nothing Nick can do to stop it.

The dazzling cut-paper artistry of Caldecott medalist David Wisniewski combines with Andrew Clements''s free-verse celebration of woodworking tools to tell the story of a surprise in the making. The evocative description of each workshop tool-ruler, axe, saw, hammer, and the rest-is accompanied by a vivid, dramatically composed illustration showing how it is used in the step-by-step construction of an ornate, old-fashioned carousel. An eager young apprentice assists one craftsman after another as the project takes shape and is rewarded with a toolbox of his won. Young wood-working enthusiasts will enjoy the affectionate and knowledgeable portraits of familiar tools as well as an acclaimed artist''s vision of the magic simple tools can do.

This pairing of fiction and non-fiction literature features a story about a boy and his father on a desert camping trip and a mystery they uncover and a monograph about desert ecology.

Milo, who does not share his family''s fondness for peas, invents a machine to make the unpleasant vegetables disappear.

Poor Big Al! He just wants to make friends. And in the whole wide blue sea you can''t find a nicer fish. But because Big Al is large and scary-looking, the little fish are afraid to get to know him. What can he do? He tries everything he can think of -- from disguising himself with seaweed to burrowing under the ocean floor so he''ll look smaller. But something always goes wrong, and lonely Big Al wonders if he''ll ever have a single friend. Then one frightening day, when a fishing net captures the other fish, Big Al gets the chance to prove what a wonderful friend he can be!