King and the Dragonflies

King and the Dragonflies

Kacen Callender

Scholastic, 2020

259 pages

Grades 6-8

Realistic Fiction

Twelve-year-old King's brother has recently passed away from a freak accident and he and his family are still, understandably, shattered. King is convinced that Khalid is now visiting him as a dragonfly and still talks to him in human form in his dreams. Meanwhile, at school things are weird. King fell out with his friend Sandy after Sandy confessed that he thinks he might be gay. Khalid overheard this conversation and told King to stop being friends. Now Sandy has run away from home to escape an abusive father and only King can help him. Further complications arise as thoughts are turning to romance in this rural Louisianan middle school. King's closest female friend develops a crush on him and they start "dating". King realizes that he doesn't like her "that way" and may also be gay. Conversations with his parents about both hiding Sandy and his sexuality do not go the way he would have liked. Sandy is found and King finds himself in trouble and his friend back in an abusive situation. Should he and Sandy run away together? A trip to Mardi Gras brings the action to a climax and the start of healing for King's family.

I'm not a hundred percent sure how I felt about this book. There is kind of a lot going on, yet it felt a bit "talky" to me. King is dealing with two major events: the death of his brother and the emergence of his sexuality preferences. Beyond that, there is not much of a plot, just everyone talking to each other and working through the issues within small town Louisiana. King is a believable and realistically flawed, yet sweet, character. He reads young, which he is. There are very few books written on this age level for boys dealing with crushes on other boys and for that reason, this book is important. It will guide other such readers in walking through the process, as well as opening the eyes of "straight" readers and educating them to be sensitive to their peers. The sadness of grief and the family's process of dealing with it is also realistically portrayed. The thought that our loved ones are still with us will be a comfort to other kids going through this difficult process. I love that King's family eventually wakes up and steps up, though the ending ties together a bit too neatly. Somehow, I feel that the cover did not help this book. I did not pick it up on my own (and fear that kids won't as well) I read it after hearing positive comments from other librarians and the National Book Award nomination. Although not for everyone, this book will appeal to kids who like angsty realistic reads or who may be going through similar struggles.