King and the Dragonflies

King and the Dragonflies is a novel by Kacen Callender set in a small town in Louisiana. Twelve-year-old Kingston James is grieving the sudden death of his older brother, Khalid, and he has convinced himself that Khalid has turned into a dragonfly and still visits the bayou behind their house. Before he died, Khalid told King to stop being friends with Sandy Sanders after a rumor spread that Sandy is gay. When Sandy goes missing and turns up hiding in a tent in King's backyard, King has to decide whether to keep his friend's secret, and he begins to face truths about himself that he has been afraid to say out loud. The novel explores grief, family, friendship, race and identity with honesty and tenderness. It won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.