Most Popular Books by Dean Hughes

In this gripping and eye-opening novel, two Syrian refugee teens trying to make a living on the street corners of Beirut must decide how far they’re willing to go to make a home for their family in an unwelcoming country. Thirteen-year-old Hadi Saleh and his family are displaced. At least that’s what the Lebanese government calls them and the thousands of other Syrian refugees that have flooded into Beirut. But as Hadi tries to earn money to feed his family by selling gum on the street corner, he learns that many people who travel the city don’t think they’re displaced—they think that they don’t belong in this country either. And as he faces the insults day after day, Hadi hardly dares to dream anymore that this might change. But then Hadi meets Malek, who has been instructed to work on the same corner. Malek, who talks about going to school and becoming an engineer. He makes Hadi wonder if more might be possible. But Malek is new to the streets, and soon Kamal, the man who “oversees” many of the local street vendors, tells Malek he must work the corner…alone. And people who don’t follow Kamal’s orders don’t last long. Now Hadi is forced to make a choice between engaging in illegal activities or letting his family starve. Can the boys find a way out of their impossible situation, or will the dream of something greater than their harsh realities remain stubbornly out of reach?

Trying to hold onto the newfound stability of his life in a foster home, thirteen-year-old David worries about the growing moodiness of his guardian Paul and the fluctuating fortunes of his Pony League baseball team.

Brian Waters is so nervous that he can''t seem to do anything right on his little league team, the Angel Park Dodgers, but a pep talk from a big league star psyches him up to make a winning catch.

Dirty. Lazy. Good-for-nothing. Jay Thacker is used to being called names because his dad is half Navajo. But things are different after he and his mother move to a small town in Utah to stay with his grandparents during WWII. Jay makes friends and earns money working the fields for his well-respected grandfather—but he encounters a problem in Ken, a fellow worker who’s from the nearby Japanese internment camp. Ken’s a Jap. And Jay’s dad, who’s been fighting for the navy out in the Pacific, is missing in action. This moving story about an unlikely friendship deftly addresses themes of prejudice and intolerance, providing readers a glimpse of the past that enlightens the present.

Feeling unwanted, an eleven-year-old orphan runs away from his foster home and lives on the streets until he finds a new type of family at a hotel.

Forced into an internment camp at the start of World War II, eighteen-year-old Yuki enlists in the Army to fight for the Allies as a member of the "Four-Four-Two," a segregated Japanese American regiment.

In despair over his basketball team''s prospects with his father as coach, fifth-grader Nutty goes to his genius friend William for help and finds more success than he ever thought possible.

Spencer Morgan And Dieter Hedrick, one American, one German, are both young and eager to get into action in the war. Dieter, a shining member of the Hitler Youth movement, has actually met the Führer himself and was praised for his hard work. Now he is determined to make it to the front lines, to push back the enemy and defend the honor of the Fatherland. Spencer, just sixteen, must convince his father to sign his induction papers. He is bent on becoming a paratrooper -- the toughest soldiers in the world. He will prove to his family and hometown friends that he is more than the little guy with crooked teeth. He?ll prove to his father that he can amount to something and keep his promises. Everyone will look at him differently when he returns home in his uniform, trousers tucked into his boots in the paratrooper style. Both boys get their wishes when they are tossed into intense conflict during the Battle of the Bulge. And both soon learn that war is about a lot more than proving oneself and one?s bravery. Dean Hughes offers young readers a wrenching look at parallel lives and how innocence must eventually be shed.

Having failed to get their applications in for the middle school summer baseball league, Robbie and Trent scramble to find a sponsor, a coach, and enough players to form their own team.

A natural at bat, Wilson is winning nearly every game. But his hitting streakends when he depends on other people''s advice.

Lucky, a new and unusual pupil in the sixth grade, decides to befriend the class outcast, finds they share an interest in skateboarding, and tries to enlist the other Mormons in the class to join his campaign to gain his new friend some self-esteem.

Lately, 3rd-grade-rookie Anthony Ruiz has been losing his concentration when he gets into a real game, and the other players are giving him a hard time. So the coach asks Harlan, who''s improved tremendously since last year, to work with Anthony, and he discovers that the rookie''s parents are getting divorced. . . . Illustrated.

When Nutty investigates the disappearance of the school Christmas fund from his locker, he and his friends run into a bunch of thieves as well as a more surprising solution.

A black boy from Los Angeles has some trouble fitting in with the twelve-and-under basketball team in his new, mostly white neighborhood in Angel Park.

When Jeff Reinhold breaks his arm, a small Asian boy named Lian Jie becomes the new second baseman.

Having been hit in the face by a ball during a previous game, Tracy tries to deal with her fear of its happening again as the Scrappers approach the baseball championship.

Three third-grade rookies who make the Little League baseball team aren''t immediately accepted by the older players.

Just as Thurlow feels that he may be able to lead the Scrappers single-handedly to the season championship, an injury sidelines him and threatens to take away their victory.

Goalie Nate has a problem. He''s got to get his teammates to think about defense as well as offense. Angel Park Soccer #2.