Justice for Darius Stewart: https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/we-want-justice-for-19
Trigger Warnings: Grief, Homophobia, Domestic abuse against women and children, Racism
Synopsis: 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.
Review: King and the Dragonflies was incredible. The story is about Kingston, better known as King, after the sudden loss of his older brother. I'm always going to be a sucker for books about grief, especially when they depict the various ways a person can grieve. King and the Dragonflies does that. A lot of this comes from King's dad who has a very strict idea of how a man should act. Part of that is not crying. So King never really processes his grief in an emotional way because he didn't think he was supposed to. It also shows how grief can change, not just an individual, but an entire family dynamic.
The other major element to this story is about King's friend Sandy who runs away from his abusive home. This allows Kacen to bring up everything from generational trauma to racism to forgiveness to homophobia. Sandy's family are known in town to be racist against Black people, but King is still comfortable enough to be his friend. Sandy is also gay and this is how King realizes he's struggling with his own sexuality. This is further complicated by the grief element because King has a conversation with his brother stuck in his head. In this conversation, King's brother tells King to stop being friends with Sandy because the school will think King is gay too. This, on top of King being Black, is something POC have to face all the time. King and Sandy are able to have very important conversations about the difference between being gay as a white person and being gay as a POC (specifically, in King's case, a Black person).
King and the Dragonflies is a beautiful story that includes a ton of important conversations, none of which feel brushed over or surface level.
5 howls
If you enjoyed King and the Dragonflies consider checking out the following novels:
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds (YA story that centers grief as a young boy starts working at a funeral home)
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (YA story written in verse about a Black boy who has to dismantle is own ideas of strength and question everything he has been raised to know)
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone (MG roadtrip story where a Black boy learns more about his family and the racism that still plagues his country)
Trigger Warnings: Grief, Homophobia, Domestic abuse against women and children, Racism
Synopsis: 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.
Review: King and the Dragonflies was incredible. The story is about Kingston, better known as King, after the sudden loss of his older brother. I'm always going to be a sucker for books about grief, especially when they depict the various ways a person can grieve. King and the Dragonflies does that. A lot of this comes from King's dad who has a very strict idea of how a man should act. Part of that is not crying. So King never really processes his grief in an emotional way because he didn't think he was supposed to. It also shows how grief can change, not just an individual, but an entire family dynamic.
The other major element to this story is about King's friend Sandy who runs away from his abusive home. This allows Kacen to bring up everything from generational trauma to racism to forgiveness to homophobia. Sandy's family are known in town to be racist against Black people, but King is still comfortable enough to be his friend. Sandy is also gay and this is how King realizes he's struggling with his own sexuality. This is further complicated by the grief element because King has a conversation with his brother stuck in his head. In this conversation, King's brother tells King to stop being friends with Sandy because the school will think King is gay too. This, on top of King being Black, is something POC have to face all the time. King and Sandy are able to have very important conversations about the difference between being gay as a white person and being gay as a POC (specifically, in King's case, a Black person).
King and the Dragonflies is a beautiful story that includes a ton of important conversations, none of which feel brushed over or surface level.
5 howls
If you enjoyed King and the Dragonflies consider checking out the following novels:
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds (YA story that centers grief as a young boy starts working at a funeral home)
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (YA story written in verse about a Black boy who has to dismantle is own ideas of strength and question everything he has been raised to know)
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone (MG roadtrip story where a Black boy learns more about his family and the racism that still plagues his country)
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