The Magical World Of Fantasy

     Fantasy is one of my favorite genres. I remember reading The Percy Jackson series in a week. After that, I moved on to the Artemis Fowl series. Each book felt like a new adventure, and since I was the quiet, awkward kid, escaping into a fantasy world was a nice treat. I was excited about this week, and I was surprised by its outcome. 

    My first book was a masterpiece. King And The Dragonflies takes place in Louisiana and follows a young boy named King. He recently lost his brother, Khalid, and believes that his brother turned into a dragonfly. The primary focus of the novel is King’s grief and his friendship with a young boy named Sandy, who ran away from his abusive father. Callender does a fantastic job of weaving elements of magic into the realistic, heartbreaking feelings of grief, systemic racism, and figuring out your sexuality in a place that is not entirely accepting. 

King And The Dragonflies by Kacen Callender

    King And The Dragonflies by Kacen Callender broke me. It changed my view of writing and storytelling. Like with plenty of my favorite books, I could not stop thinking about it. I would pause and think about King and his family for days at a time. My love for this book grew each passing day. King’s story moved me, and I connected with him on such a deep level. There were some moments where I wanted to hug him, and some moments where I wanted to lecture him about his actions. Callender made King feel so real that I sometimes forgot I was reading about a fictional character. By the end of the book, I had to sit by myself and stare into space for a long time. I loved it, and I would recommend this book to anyone. 

When You Reach Me By Rebecca Stead 

    My feelings about When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead were a byproduct of reading right after Callender’s book. It mainly focused on a young girl named Miranda, who receives letters from the future about how to save her best friend, Sal. Stead mixes these sci-fi elements with common feelings that young preteens experience; she feels disconnected from her mother, is not talking to her best friend, and is jealous of the people around her. Miranda can be judgmental and borderline disrespectful towards the people around her. While I understood certain aspects of her character, it took me time to get used to her voice. I also could not get the Callender’s book out of my head, which made it challenging to concentrate on When You Reach Me.

    One aspect I enjoyed about this novel was the way it was told. It was written in these short chapters, making it quick and easy to read. Although Miranda was judgmental, she was also funny. I also loved the sci-fi elements of the story. They were easy to understand, and it did not feel like Stead tried to dump information all at once. This story was not a bad one, but King And The Dragonflies was so much better. 

Works Cited 

Callender, K. (2020). King And The Dragonflies. Scholastic Press.

   Stead, R. (2009). When You Reach Me. Penguin Random House Canada.