Dean Hughes

Dean Hughes has the rare ability to write about serious subjects with humor and understanding. Growing up in Utah, this son of Mormon parents came to understand the prejudice young people face in today's mobile society. Although he writes about unity, truth, and love, he refuses to submit to the sentimental didacticism that many writers for children fall prey to.

Many children (and parents) would recognize immediately the problem faced in Honestly, Myron(Atheneum, 1982). The "it's okay to tell me, but please don't say that to your grandma" syndrome plagues young people and their parents, and may be one of the toughest problems very young children have to handle. But Hughes, who neither blames parents or children in his book, gives his young readers a chance to see adult double standards in a humorous and understanding light. Hughes maintains that:

When I was a kid I always told people I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Well, I've accomplished the first part: I'm a writer. Now if I can just grow up.

It is undoubtedly his refusal to leave behind the essence of his childhood that makes his books popular with young people today.

But if he has not grown up, Hughes has at least come of age in Switching Tracks(Atheneum, 1982), in which he handles death guilt, and friendship with touching dignity and subtle wit. It is Hughes' favorite book so far, and he hopes to do more books about relationships between troubled youth and older people, so that he can "lessen the gaps between young and old." Guilt about the death of someone close has been identified as a real problem by psychiatrists, but Hughes manages to keep his book out of the therapy game. Rather, he deals with the problem through realistic and strong characterization. Willard is not able to help Mark through sage wisdom and clean living, but through a sharing of the pain and fear which everyone endures. Willard is not an idealized grandpa; he is a crusty old man who scares small children and who is made fun of by their teenage counterparts.

Hughes devotes most of his life to writing and to being a father. In 1981, he gave up tenure at Central Missouri State university so that he could write most of the time. He says,

My goal is to write some works that are truly fine pieces of art. I love writing. I love the freedom, the creativity and the wonderful feedback I get from kids, librarians and teachers. I want to make young people think and feel and care—there are too many forces pushing them in the opposite directions.

Hughes receives many letters from young readers. One of his most loyal is a gifted sixth grader from Salt Lake City, who corresponds on a regular basis. His own children, Tom, Amy, and Robert, usually serve as critics for his books. But not until he has rewritten his own copy as many as seven times. He values their responses, and pays them a stipend to read his manuscripts before they are sent to the publisher.

Currently he is working on a non-fiction history of Mormonism for young readers. This work will speak to his interest in religion, in struggling against prejudice, and in the development of youth.

Hughes' books are a tribute to his interest in the development of today's youth. They are warm without being sentimental; they teach without being didactic; and they are written in a manner which neither offends or evades. His characters don't come from down the street or halfway around the world. Instead, they flow out of the heart of each individual who reads them and draws an uncanny picture of someone readers can recognize in themselves.