Helaine Becker

"The most powerful pirate in history was a woman who was born into poverty in Guangzhou, China, in the early 1800s. When pirates attacked her town and the captain took a liking to her, she saw a way out. Zheng Yi Sao agreed to marry him only if she got an equal share of his business. When her husband died six years later, she took command of the fleet. Over the next decade, the pirate queen built a fleet of over 1,800 ships and 70,000 men. On land...

"Robots that look, act and think like humans are no longer the stuff of science fiction - they actually exist in the real world! Hubots explores the characteristics of 10 human-like robots, examines the challenges of integrating them into society and offers a sneak peek at the next generation."--Page 4 of cover.

The spy missions of Darren Dirkowitz (aka Dirk Daring, Secret Agent) are interrupted when his stepbrother gets hold of his top-secret notebook.

"Born in Scotland more than 250 years ago, William Playfair was a dreamer who saw the world differently from other people. Unfortunately, this difference sometimes got in the way of his success. Early on, as he attempted to apply his unique perspective to a series of career opportunities in order to gain riches! fame! glory! he instead suffered one failure after another. Then, while writing a book about economics, Will's innovative vision inspired...

Darren Dirkowitz thought his life was over when his tippity-top-secret alter ego, Dirk Daring, Secret Agent, was outed to the entire Preston Middle School student body. If only he'd been so lucky. Now the Wolf Lords-a gang of teen thugs bent on wringing every last penny out of Preston students-are breathing down his neck. There's only one solution: Dirk Daring must embark on his most daring mission yet. A mission so audacious, so cunning, so doggone...

12-year-old Dany lives with his father, the scholarly Rob Judah, and his silent mother Rachel in the Stoon ghetto on the outskirts of Gottika. Under the ruthless Count Pol, the Stoon community are subject to military raids, prejudicial laws and restrictions on their culture and freedom. When Pol marries Dany's cousin Dalil, stoking further tension between Gottikans and Stoons, life gets harder still. Urged on by Dany, Rob Judah finally runs out of...

An engaging picture book biography of a groundbreaking female mathematician. Emmy Noether is not pretty, quiet or good at housework - all the things a girl of her time is expected to be. What she is, though, is brilliant at math. And when she grows up, she skirts the rules to first study math at a university and then teach it. She also helps to solve of the most pressing mathematical and physics problems of the day. And though she doesn't get much...

A captivating look at the life of a modern-day fossil hunter who makes the find of a lifetime. Wendy has an eye for the unusual and is skilled at finding things that others don't see. On a middle school field trip, she spots one of those unusual things - it's fossilized coral 100 million years old! Wendy's thrilled! And soon, she gets hooked on hunting fossils. She decides to turn her passion into her career and becomes known as the "fossil whisperer"...