As King’s friendship with Sandy is reignited, he’s forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother’s death. 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. 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.

It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family. 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. Watch as Kacen Callendar discusses their journey in developing King and the Dragonflies at the 2021 National Book Festival.In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy’s grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself.FOUR STARRED REVIEWS!BooklistSchool Library JournalPublishers WeeklyThe Horn Book Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. You don’t want anyone to think you’re gay too, do you?īut 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.

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.

Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly.

King and dragonflies