Student Review: "King and the Dragonflies," by Kacen Callender

King (Kingston)'s brother dies and because a dragonfly landed on the casket at the funeral, King is convinced that his brother came back as a dragonfly and is still alive. He looks for him every day walking home from school in the scorching Louisiana heat. Before his older brother's death, he was best friends with a kid named Sandy but told him he couldn't be friends with him anymore because Sandy is gay and Khalid, King's older brother, told him that he should not hang out with Sandy because he is gay. King is also best friends with a girl named Jasmine, that secretly likes him. King finds Sandy hiding out in his backyard in his tent one night because his dad hits him. King helps Sandy hide and shows him to a little shack in the bayou that is deserted. Everyone else thinks Sandy is missing but Sandy is eventually found and is locked in his room by his dad. Sandy escapes and is going to take a bus to New York and wants King to go with him but he doesn't go and tells on Sandy and what his dad is doing and Sandy ends up living with a family in another city while his dad is arrested. I did not like this book very much.

Review by Elliana G.

#review #death #family #brothers #Sequoyahnominee #realisticfiction #friendship #LGBTQ