Most Popular Books by Dean Hughes

From the author of Soldier Boys and Search and Destroy comes an “immersive and inspirational” (Booklist, starred review) page-turner based on the little-known history of the Japanese Americans who fought with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. Yuki Nakahara is an American. But it’s the start of World War II, and America doesn’t see it that way. Like many other Japanese Americans, Yuki and his family have been forced into an internment camp in the Utah desert. But Yuki isn’t willing to sit back and accept this injustice—it’s his country too, and he’s going to prove it by enlisting in the army to fight for the Allies. When Yuki and his friend Shig ship out, they aren’t prepared for the experiences they’ll encounter as members of the “Four-Four-Two,” a segregated regiment made up entirely of Japanese-American soldiers. Before Yuki returns home—if he returns home—he’ll come face to face with persistent prejudices, grueling combat he never imagined, and friendships deeper than he knew possible.

Two boys, one German and one American, are eager to join their respective armies during World War II, and their paths cross at the Battle of the Bulge.

Grade Level 6.1, Book # 5376, Points 4.

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

Recent high school graduate Rick Ward, undecided about his future and eager to escape his unhappy home life, joins the army and experiences the horrors of the war in Vietnam.

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.

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.

" ... Captures the frustrations and doubts of two periods of life--teenagers on the verge of manhood and boys leaving behind their childhood"--Inside front dust-jacket.

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.

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

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.

Harlan Sloan, a rookie on the Little League baseball team, gets his first big base hit.

When Trent''s best friend Robbie and another teammate on the Scrappers begin bragging about their baseball abilities, Trent worries that it will affect the team''s play.

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.

"Young Gene Thomas, son of Alex and Anna, has everything going for him: his natural good looks, his family''s prosperity, and his reputation as the best athlete at East High in Salt Lake City. But now that world events are affecting his family, things may not be so rosy after all."--Jacket.

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.

When Jacob loses his lucky charm, he''s convinced he''ll never be able to bat, field, or throw again until he finds it.

Unless star guard Miles "Tip" Harris can keep his cool under pressure from opposing players, the Angel Park Lakers could have a short season.

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

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 fifth-grade boy running for school president is forced to make some important decisions regarding the amount of manipulation he should allow from his "genius" campaign manager.

Kenny, the rookie star of Angel Park''s Little League baseball team, finds himself in a major slump because he''s trying too hard.

When she finds that she is no longer taller than most of the other players, Heidi has to adjust to playing wing instead of striker.

Called "rookie star" by the town paper, third-grader Kenny Sandoval, talented first baseman for the Angel Park Dodgers, is determined to prove that the name has not gone to his head.

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.

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.

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.

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.

When the Angel Park Dodgers get so rattled by the Reds that they can hardly play baseball, rookie Jacob attempts to relax them with meditation exercises he finds in a sports psychology book.

It takes an earthquake to help the Angel Park Pride soccer players realize the importance of teamwork.

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.

Eleven-year-old Lucky is worried that the nomadic life he and his father share will come to an end in Provo, Utah, when his father begins seeing a woman with a hostile twelve-year-old son.

Follows the members of the Angel Park Dodgers Little League team through their second season as they discuss batting averages, RBIs, and Jonathan Swingle, the new superstar and super braggart.

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.

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?

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.