Description

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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.

About the Author

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Dean Hughes is the author of more than eighty books for young readers, including the popular sports series Angel Park All-Stars, the Scrappers series, the Nutty series, the widely acclaimed companion novels Family Pose and Team Picture, Search and Destroy, and Four-Four-Two. His novel Soldier Boys was selected for the 2001 New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list. Dean Hughes and his wife, Kathleen, have three children and nine grandchildren. They live in Midway, Utah.

Praise For…

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“[A] wonderful novel that is sure to appeal on many levels…the issues explored will make many think.”
— Library Media Connection on Missing in Action, Highly Recommended

“Subtle and engaging.”
— Kirkus Reviews on Missing in Action

“Instantly gripping.”
— VOYA on Search and Destroy

“Well-written, realistic, and engrossing.”
— School Library Journal on Search and Destroy

“[A] compelling, insightful story about the emotional, physical, and psychological scars that wars leave upon soldiers.”
— Booklist on Search and Destroy

* “Compassionate and tragic…. This book may linger in the reader’s mind for quite some time.”
— The Horn Book on Soldier Boys, *STARRED REVIEW*

“[A] realistically harrowing depiction of the pointlessness of war.”
— Publishers Weekly on Soldier Boys

“Soldier Boys rises above the clichés of standard World War II stories.”
— School Library Journal on Soldier Boys