King and the Dragonflies

King and the Dragonflies

2020 • 272 pages

Ratings18

Average rating4.3

15

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.


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Popular Reviews

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powerful exploration of toxic masculinity, stereotypes, and grieving family dynamics. cried at least twice

September 21, 2020

This was a lovely and important read. The issue of runaway LGBTQ kids is something that is talked about in older YA books but not so much tween books, so I found that essential but also heartbreaking.

June 17, 2020

Gorgeous and moving, a survival story in multiple senses of the word.

November 1, 2020