King and the Dragonflies
Book description
A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book!
Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature!
Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry!
In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn…
Why read it?
1 author picked King and the Dragonflies as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book, on the younger range of YA, features twelve-year-old King in Louisiana bayou country. Not only is King Black, but he thinks he might be gay. He has a special friendship with Sandy, who is white and whose father is a known KKK member. The story opens with the sudden and unexpected death of King’s big brother Khalid, a soccer star. Khalid had told King not to hang with Sandy because he would appear to be gay and be shunned by his classmates. While suffering deep grief, King complies for a time, but without Khalid, without Sandy, he has…
From Patricia's list on how to right social injustice (especially racism).
Want books like King and the Dragonflies?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 75 books like King and the Dragonflies.
Browse books like King and the Dragonflies
5 book lists we think you will like!
- The best YA books to right social injustice (especially racism)
- The best books on race and slavery in the colonial lower Mississippi Valley
- The best books about the frightening, fascinating history of life, death, and magic in New Orleans
- The best books to introduce readers to novels in verse
- The best middle grade books for countering toxic masculinity
Interested in brothers, Louisiana, and hate crimes?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about brothers, Louisiana, and hate crimes.