Early Readers are stepping stones from picture books to reading books. A blue Early Reader is perfect for sharing and reading together. A red Early Reader is the next step on your reading journey. Ava is sick and tired of her parents always telling her what to do. Nag nag nag. Why can't she have the kind of parents that let her eat sweets all day? Or parents who never make her go to bed, or eat vegetables? Then she sees an advert for the Parent Swap Shop, and Ava knows it's time to trade in the old ones for a new and improved Mum and Dad.

Twelve year old Danny Bell’s problems can be summed up in two simple words: dodgy parents. His mum has left home and his dad spends his days slumped in front of the television, dreaming of the past when he was a rock star. So when Danny hears about ParentSwap, a secret agency that helps kids find the parents they deserve, he's willing to give it a go. Thanks to ParentSwap, Danny’s life is transformed. It’s bye-bye to his mis-fit, loser family and hello perfect parents. Life with the Harrisons is refreshingly 'normal' until Danny discovers that he's been specially picked as the unwitting subject of a TV documentary. Rather than just get angry, Danny decides to get even and to take on the manipulating producers as their own decpetive game. This battle of wits leads to an astonishing climax at a rock concert at Buckingham Palace, where the Queen herself takes a hand in Danny's far-from-ordinary life! Terence Blacker's new children's novel is a funny, clever, fast-moving story set in a world where reality is just another TV concept.

A friendly and accessible introduction to the most useful algorithms Computer algorithms are the basic recipes for programming. Professional programmers need to know how to use algorithms to solve difficult programming problems. Written in simple, intuitive English, this book describes how and when to use the most practical classic algorithms, and even how to create new algorithms to meet future needs. The book also includes a collection of questions that can help readers prepare for a programming job interview. Reveals methods for manipulating common data structures such as arrays, linked lists, trees, and networks Addresses advanced data structures such as heaps, 2-3 trees, B-trees Addresses general problem-solving techniques such as branch and bound, divide and conquer, recursion, backtracking, heuristics, and more Reviews sorting and searching, network algorithms, and numerical algorithms Includes general problem-solving techniques such as brute force and exhaustive search, divide and conquer, backtracking, recursion, branch and bound, and more In addition, Essential Algorithms features a companion website that includes full instructor materials to support training or higher ed adoptions.

Unified Financial Analysis arrives at the right time, in the midst of the current financial crisis where the call for better and more efficient financial control cannot be overstated. The book argues that from a technical perspective, there is no need for more, but for better and more efficiently organized information. The title demonstrates that it is possible with a single but well organized set of information and algorithms to derive all types of financial analysis. This reaches far beyond classical risk and return or profitability management, spanning all risk categories, all valuation techniques (local GAAP, IFRS, full mark-to-market and so on) and static, historic and dynamic analysis, just to name the most important dimensions. The dedication of a complete section to dynamic analysis, which is based on a going concern view, is unique, contrasting with the static, liquidation-based view prevalent today in banks. The commonly applied arbitrage-free paradigm, which is too narrow, is expanded to real world market models. The title starts with a brief history of the evolution of financial analysis to create the current industry structure, with the organisation of many banks following a strict silo structure, and finishes with suggestions for the way forward from the current financial turmoil. Throughout the book, the authors advocate the adoption of a 'unified financial language' that could also be the basis for a new regulatory approach. They argue that such a language is indispensable, if the next regulatory wave – which is surely to come – should not end in an expensive regulatory chaos. Unified Financial Analysis will be of value to CEOs and CFOs in banking and insurance, risk and asset and liability managers, regulators and compliance officers, students of Finance or Economics, or anyone with a stake in the finance industry.

The two-volume set LNCS 4051 and LNCS 4052 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 33rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming, ICALP 2006, held in Venice, Italy, July 2006. In all, these volumes present more 100 papers and lectures. Volume I (4051) presents 61 revised full papers together with 1 invited lecture, focusing on algorithms, automata, complexity and games, on topics including graph theory, quantum computing, and more.