For the last ten years, Dave Purenut has lived at Milton Hershey School, an all-boys school for orphans in Chocolate Town, USA, doing just what he's supposed to. Not anymore. Told to set the example as the only senior in his student home, Dave refuses and soon discovers that getting into trouble has its advantages. Like the freedom to do what you choose rather than what's expected. And since the year is 1970, with revolution, sexual freedom, and drugs seemingly everywhere, and with Vietnam looming on his horizon, Dave has a lot of choices to make.
"In COCOA BEANS, first-time novelist Michael J. Hughes finds success by reverting to a tried and true formula, writing about things familiar and intimate...Using this framework, Hughes creates a coming-of-age tale reminiscent of Salingers "Catcher in the Rye" and Twains "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."...COCOA BEANS succeeds where many other novels fail--it keeps you turning the pages. Hughes
Elizabethtown (PA) Chronicle
"COCOA BEANS by Michael J. Hughes is an entertaining coming-of-age novel about the trials and tribulations of a boarding-school student with the unlikely name of Dave Purenut...."
Harrisburg(PA) Sunday Patriot News
"Drawing from his own life at Milton Hershey School, author Michael J. Hughes tells an emotional and sometimes humorous story... COCOA BEANS will spark memories for those who experienced the school first-hand, and it will also ignite interest in those who havent."
