'This quiet novel movingly addresses toxic masculinity, homophobia in the black community-especially related to men-fear, and memory.

Winner Image: King and the Dragonflies Cover. 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 and bestselling Felix Ever After. Winner Description: Written by Kacen Callender, and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc. In this middle grade novel, author Kacen Callender examines loss and identity through twelve-year-old Kingston (King) James, who tries to recover from the. In this raw and exquisite story, we see that love can set us all free.

Before his death, his brother had said, 'You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?' But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, King finds his former best friend and the two begin an adventure as they hide Sandy down by the bayou, among the dragonflies.Īs King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death. It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy. King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family. Khalid visits him in turn, in King's dreams. King is convinced his brother isn't dead, that he has instead turned into a dragonfly, and he searches for Khalid down by the bayou. King and the Dragonflies A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry In a small but. In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, King lost his older brother. has instead turned into a dragonfly, and he searches for Khalid down by the bayou.

Winner of the 2020 National Book Awards for Young People's Literature. In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, King lost his older brother.

King of the dragonflies