New Releases 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?

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.

Three tense, action-packed, and thought-provoking war stories from acclaimed author Dean Hughes are together for the first time in a collectible boxed set. In Soldier Boys, Spencer Morgan and Dieter Hedrick are on opposite sides of World War II and fighting for the same thing. Search and Destroy finds Rick Ward enlisting with the Charlie Rangers special unit in Vietnam. He wanted to go to war—but this war is far bigger, scarier, and more complicated than anything he ever could have imagined. And in Missing in Action, Jay Thacker works hard to convince everyone, and maybe even himself, that his dad—who is missing in action as he fights in World War II—is really a POW and military hero, and not gone forever. These three stand-alone stories take a searing look at war and its consequences, examining what it means to be a hero, what it means to be a friend, and what it means to be a man.

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.

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.

In this concluding volume to the Come to Zion series Will and Liz, 19th century Mormon pioneers, leave Nauvoo, Illinois and cross the plains to reach the Salt Lake Valley. Meanwhile Jeff and Abby, living in the 21st century Midwest, face decisions about moving from Nauvoo to go to graduate school.

SUB TITLE:So Much of Life Ahead

The year is 1943, and Andy Gledhills months of training as a paratrooper have culminated in his being assigned to the 89th Airborne. But he soon learns that the government has other plans for him. The newly formed Office of Strategic Services needs soldiers with language talents like Andys to drop into Europe behind enemy lines and help fight the war from the inside out. Andys new life of deception and sabotage is worlds away from his upbringing in sleepy little Delta, Utah. But even that town is changing, as the nearby Topaz relocation camp ignites racial tensions. And Whisper Harris, the girl Andy left behind, is caught in a maelstrom of conflicting emotions brought on by the war. Should she release Andy from the promises theyve made, as he seems to have released her? Or should she keep on hoping?

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.

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.

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.

A solid player doesn''t think he''s jealous of his more talented teammates. But other teammates of his friends are bragging and getting on his nerves.

Gloria''s really done it this time--first her temper causes the Scrappers to forfeit an easy win, and now she''s gotten the coach so disgusted he''s quit the team.

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.

The elders could see nothing but smoke until they turned the corner onto the street where the fire was. And then, both of them stopped. ?The synagogue!? Elder Thomas said. It had never occurred to him that anyone – even the Nazis – would do such a thing. Elder Thomas got his camera out. He snapped the shot but then heard someone say, in German, ?What are you doing there?? He tucked the camera inside his coat, under his arm. He tried to appear normal, but his heart was suddenly beating hard. A man was crossing the narrow street and coming toward them. ?Making pictures?? the man asked as he walked closer. Elder Thomas took a better look. He saw what he feared: the black uniform with silver trim and braided hat. Gestapo. Elder Alex Thomas wants only to teach the gospel to the people of Germany. But it soon becomes obvious that he will never complete his mission. War is coming, and that will affect not only Elder Thomas but also his family back home in Salt Lake City. In the family is Wally, Elder Thomas’s younger brother, who usually just wants ot have a good time, but lately doesn’t seem to care much about anything. There’s his sister Bobbi, who is supposed to marry Phil Clark, the most eligible bachelor in the Salt Lake Valley. The problem is, she can’t ignore her attraction to Dr. Stinson, a University of Utah professor who’s not a member of the Church. And there are Elder Thomas’s parents, D. Alexander Thomas, stake president and his wife, Bea, who want their children to be true to the values and ideals they’ve taught them. But President and Sister Thomas are finding they can’t just tell their children what to do anymore, and they’re worried about what will happen when the United States enters a war that no one seems able to stop. In Rumors of War, the first volume of the series Children of the Promise, author Dean Hughes recreates the era of World War II in stunning detail. But more than that, he shows how the war affects an ordinary family of Latter-day Saints. If you’re interested in Church or world history, or if you’re simply looking for a powerful LDS novel, you won’t want to miss Rumors of War.

Thirteen-year-old Kim is a star in softball, basketball, and volleyball, but when she begins playing soccer she fears she will let the team down.

Presents the lives and accomplishments of Latter-Day Saints missionaries past and present.

Although he is a basketball whiz, seventh-grader Aaron Reeves must learn to be a team player in order to make friends on the basketball team at his new school.

Eleven-year-old Sterling Malone tries out for quarterback because his father thinks African-Americans need to prove they can be leaders, but Sterling isn''t sure he wants to be a leader.

Fifth-grader Ben Riddle is a brown belt in karate, but when the school bully starts hassling him, Ben must look within himself to learn his true strength.

Ten-year-old Danny struggles to improve his play during his first year on the basketball team and to deal with the moods of his alcoholic father.

Nutty is now the star of a new film, directed by the overheated maker of notoriously terrible movies Damian Deveraux. It doesn''t matter that Nutty can''t act. He is the Tae Kwon Do Guy, powerful and fearless, yet warm and loving. What does matter, however, are the strange things going on.

In an easy-to-read format, here is a collection of useful pointers for the Little League set.

Lucky and his father move to a new town where the middle school kids seem to care only about looking cool, while Lucky wants to find a way to help a needy local man.

Two twelve-year-old boys, one black and one white, train for and compete in the 400 meter race, but find it hard to become friends because of racial differences and their fathers'' past relationship.

Disaster strikes when goalie Nate Metheson is injured. Can Jared Trajillo be ready to play goalie in time for the championship game--and will Nate let him?

For nine months, Darci Pierce, an infertile 19-year-old woman, managed to convince her husband that she was pregnant. On the day she said her baby was due, Pierce strangled Cindy Lynn Ray, a nine-months-pregnant woman chosen for her resemblance to Pierce, cut open Ray''s abdomen and womb with a car key, and took her nearly full-term baby.

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.