The Season of Styx Malone

Name: The Season of Styx Malone
Brand: Penguin Random House
Availability: InStock
Author: Kekla Magoon
ISBN: 9780525643463

Author: Kekla Magoon

Narrator: Sullivan Jones

Unabridged: 5 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Listening Library

Published: 10/16/2018

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Social Themes, African American & Black Stories

Synopsis

A CORETTA SCOTT KING HONOR BOOK AND THE WINNER OF THE BOSTON GLOBE HORN BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION!

"Extraordinary friendships . . . extraordinary storytelling." --Rita Williams-Garcia, Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-Winning author of One Crazy Summer

Meet Caleb and Bobby Gene, two brothers embarking on a madcap, heartwarming, one-thing-leads-to-another adventure in which friendships are forged, loyalties are tested . . . and miracles just might happen.

Caleb Franklin and his big brother Bobby Gene are excited to have adventures in the woods behind their house. But Caleb dreams of venturing beyond their ordinary small town.

Then Caleb and Bobby Gene meet new neighbor Styx Malone. Styx is sixteen and oozes cool. Styx promises the brothers that together, the three of them can pull off the Great Escalator Trade--exchanging one small thing for something better until they achieve their wildest dream. But as the trades get bigger, the brothers soon find themselves in over their heads. Styx has secrets--secrets so big they could ruin everything.

Five best of the year lists!
NPR, HornBook, Kirkus Reviews, SLJ, Shelf Awareness

Five starred reviews!

About The Author

Kekla Magoon grew up in Indiana but wanted to see the rest of the world. Now she travels all over the country meeting young readers and sharing her books, which include The Rock and the River, Camo Girl, and Shadows of Sherwood (The Robyn Hoodlum Adventures series). She has won numerous awards for her work, including four Coretta Scott King Honors, an NAACP Image Award, the Walter Award Honor, and inclusion on the National Book Award Long List. She holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she now serves on faculty. Visit her online at keklamagoon.com and you'll see: she is anything but ordinary!

Reviews

Goodreads review by Betsy on November 20, 2018

And it was around this time that I started wondering why more people weren’t talking about The Season of Styx Malone. So let me tell you a little story. Back in 2013 I wrote a blog post called “2013 Middle Grade Black Boys: Seriously, People?” In it, I sat down and counted all the novels written for......more

Goodreads review by Katy O. on June 17, 2021

I straight up inhaled this book! What a joyous celebration of friendship and found family and truly LIVING ❤️ Love love love. Highly recommend as a read aloud for 4th and 5th graders. ETA: another reviewer commented here that it would be good as a replacement for Tom Sawyer and I completely agree.......more

Goodreads review by Octavia on August 23, 2023

I loved.loved.loved. this Book! In the Beginning, it seems to be Boys' mischief during summer break with their baby sister. Until Caleb and his brother Benny Gene take adventurous stroll behind their house in the woods to cross paths with Styx Malone. He is nothing like they have ever known... Caleb......more

Goodreads review by Monica on August 11, 2018

My blog review: This book. Oh, this book. How much do I love you? The Season of Styx Malone is not out for a couple of months yet, but I just had to write something so that you all get it on your radar. I knew Kekla Magoon from her other work, say such hard hitting urban YA works as How It Wen......more

Goodreads review by Jordan on December 27, 2018

I've read a number of reviews or snippets of reviews that have compared Styx Malone to Maniac Magee and maybe it was this expectation (a comparison to one of my all-time favorites) that left me feeling a bit letdown from this story. First of all, I would not compare this to Maniac Magee. At all. I ca......more

Quotes

"Reminiscent of now-classic works by Katherine Paterson, Natalie Babbitt and Lois Lowry, The Season of Styx Malone brings the darkness of fear and trauma into the bright sun of summer days.”
—Shelf Awareness, starred review

"A summertime romp filled with trouble-making, camaraderie, and substance."—School Library Journal, starred review

"Heartening and hopeful, a love letter to black male youth grasping the desires within them, absorbing the worlds around them, striving to be more otherwise than ordinary. Please share."—Kirkus Review, starred review

"Spending time with Styx, Caleb, and Bobby Gene is an experience no reader will soon forget. "—Horn Book, starred review

"Interweaving themes of risk taking and trust, betrayal and forgiveness, Magoon (How It Went Down) crafts a novel that is genuinely funny, heartbreaking, and uplifting—extraordinary, in fact."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Awards

Maine Student Book Award