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Title details for King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender - Wait list

King and the Dragonflies

by Kacen Callender
Ron Butler
Audiobook
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Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature!

Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry!

In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself.

FOUR STARRED REVIEWS!

Booklist

School Library Journal

Publishers Weekly

The Horn Book

Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family.

It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy-that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?"

But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies. As King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death.

The Thing About Jellyfish meets The Stars Beneath Our Feet in this story about loss, grief, and finding the courage to discover one's identity, from the author of Hurricane Child.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    February 4, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781338617917
      • File size: 145894 KB
      • Duration: 05:03:56

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 830
    • Text Difficulty: 4-5

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from December 2, 2019
      Callender (Hurricane Child) returns to middle grade in this powerful tale of grief, intersectional identity, and love. Twelve-year-old Kingston “King” Reginald James lost his beloved older brother, Khalid, 16, three months before this book’s start, though King believes Khalid has become a dragonfly and visits nightly in his dreams. When Charles “Sandy” Sanders—the son of the racist sheriff and King’s former friend— disappears, and King realizes he was the last to see Sandy, he ponders his obligation to tell anyone; King knows Sandy is a victim of domestic abuse and suspects Sandy’s father is the perpetrator. Finding Sandy hiding in his backyard, King struggles with the memory of Khalid’s warning to stay away from the boy (“You don’t want anyone to think you’re gay, too, do you?”) and their Louisiana town’s homophobia as he decides to help Sandy and explores his own identity. Callender paints dream sequences in evocative prose; notable as well is their exploration of grief’s impact on a family. If some side characters feel underdeveloped, it’s because King himself shines wholly real as a black child learning to negotiate shifting interpersonal relationships and navigate sociocultural pressures and expectations. Ages 8–12. Agent: Beth Phelan, Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Ron Butler lends expertise, elegance, and an unerring expressiveness to his heartbreakingly beautiful performance as King, a black tween living in Louisiana who is coping with the death of his older brother. When his ex-best friend, Sandy Sanders, goes missing and King finds him hiding in his backyard, he is forced to confront questions about himself and his grief. As the story explores a gamut of topics--racism, homophobia, child abuse, death, and sexuality--Butler's exemplary delivery is full of emotion that mirrors the novel's bittersweet but hopeful tone. Without hesitation and occasionally using a subtle Southern drawl, Butler readily switches from the small tremulous voice of King to the commanding voices of adults. This spectacular and touching performance is a must-listen for all ages. E.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • BookPage
      Stonewall and Lambda Literary Award-winning author Kacen Callender brings their contemporary, lyrical style to a middle grade novel about grief and love in King and the Dragonflies. King’s big brother, Khalid, has died tragically at just 16 years old, and the doctors can give his family no explanation as to why. King’s parents are frozen with sadness, and his friends don’t know what to say to him. But King knows something that all of them don’t: Khalid is not gone. He has simply changed forms. He has become a dragonfly, just like in the dreams Khalid used to tell King about. King spends his afternoons alone down at the bayou, trying to spot Khalid among the hundreds of glittering wings, but soon he finds he can’t hide away from the world forever. King begins to realize that he will have to face not just the reality of life without his brother but also the truth of his own identity, no matter what anyone else may think. Callender’s second middle grade novel feels raw and authentic. It doesn’t shy away from addressing weighty themes of grief, identity and racism in a small community. Callender writes with honesty but also with kindness and strikes the difficult but necessary balance between the two perfectly. Readers will root for King on his journey toward accepting both his circumstances and himself. King and the Dragonflies is a story infused with hope that flutters and glitters all around, like so many dragonfly wings.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:830
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

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