Kekla Magoon | |
---|---|
Born | 1980 (age 42–43) Michigan, U.S. |
Language | English |
Education | BA in History, MFA in Writing |
Alma mater | Vermont College of Fine Arts, Northwestern University |
Genre | young adult fiction, middle grade fiction, short stories, non-fiction |
Years active | 1999-now |
Notable works | How It Went Down, X, The Rock and the River, The Season of Styx Malone |
Notable awards | 2016 Walter Dean Myers Award |
Website | |
keklamagoon |
Kekla Magoon is an American author, best known for her NAACP Image Award-nominated young adult novel The Rock and the River, How It Went Down, The Season of Styx Malone, and X. In 2021, she received the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association for her body of work. Her works also include middle grade novels, short stories, and historical, socio-political, and economy-related non-fiction.
Magoon was born in Michigan and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. [1] She is the biracial daughter of a white American mother with Dutch and Scottish ancestry and a black Cameroonian father. [1] As a child, she spent a few years living in Cameroon. [1]
Prior to becoming a writer, she worked for non-profit organizations in New York City. [1] She graduated with a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, where she majored in History, with a concentration on Africa and the Middle East. [1] Magoon has a master of fine arts degree in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, which she was able to study via a low-residency program for children's writers. [1] In 2015, she taught writing in New York City [2] and served as a judge for School Library Journal. [3] In 2017, she was faculty at the Highlights Foundation, a non-profit organization in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where she taught a workshop about developing new creative strategies through meditation sessions, workshop elements, and discussion, together with authors Laurie Calkhoven and Nicole Valentine. [4] [5]
She is a member of the NWP Writers Council. [6]
Magoon lives in Vermont and teaches writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. [1]
Magoon says that all her novels deal with how ordinary kids can make a difference in the world. [7]
Her debut novel, The Rock and the River, set in 1968 Chicago and follows the story of the 13-year-old son of a civil rights activist and follower of Martin Luther King Jr., who has to deal with his brother joining the Black Panther Party. [8] It discusses issues of class, race, and poverty. [9] Magoon says she spent time deliberately researching the non-violent civil rights movement, has always had an interest in history, and majored in History in college. [8] She initially had the idea to write the novel between her first semester at Northwestern University and revised the first draft during her second and third semester, before submitting The Rock and the River as her thesis. [8]
She wrote her fourth young adult novel, How It Went Down, about the aftermath of the shooting of a black teenager, in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. [10] Frustrated by the media coverage's bias, she decided to write a fictionalized story that explored what it would be like to be personally affected through a close family member or friend being killed. [10]
Magoon's sixth young adult novel X is a fictionalized account of civil rights activist Malcolm X's formative years and co-authored with his daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz. [11] Shabazz says her agent chose Magoon as a co-writer based on the quality of her previous work and the themes she tackled in her novels. [12]
Her seventh Middle Grade novel, The Season of Styx Malone, about three African American boys living in a small town in Indiana, United States, who swap their little sister for fireworks, was published by Wendy Lamb books in 2018. [13] Magoon says that she loosely based the novel on a real event from her childhood, when an ice cream parlor clerk in North Carolina told them about how his father and uncle once tried to trade their baby sister. [7]
In July 2019 it was announced that Magoon would be publishing a non-fiction young adult novel about the legacy of the Black Panthers, called Until All Are Free: The Black Panther Party's Call for Revolution and slated for a tentative publication date with Candlewick in 2021. [14]
Magoon's novels have earned starred reviews from multiple literary magazines.
Her novels Light It Up, [15] The Season of Styx Malone, [13] X, [16] and Ibi Zoboi's anthology Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America [17] that she contributed a short story for, and How It Went Down [18] have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly. They also chose How It Went Down as a Publishers Weekly Pick. [18]
Kirkus Reviews awarded her debut novel Camo Girl [19] How it Went Down, [20] Marc Aronson and Susan Campbell Bartoletti's 1968: Today's Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution, and Change, [21] and The Season of Styx Malone a starred review, calling the latter "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." [22]
School Library Journal gave starred reviews to Rebellion of Thieves, [23] Jessica Spotswood's anthology A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers and Other Badass Girls, [24] and The Season of Styx Malone. [25] The Season of Styx Malone was especially praised by critics, also earning a starred review from Shelf Awareness [26] and The Horn Book, [27] and being named one of the best books of 2018 by Kirkus Reviews. [22]
X, co-authored with Ilyasah Shabazz, was one of five novels in 2015 to receive six starred reviews. [28]
Middle Grade
Young Adult
Short Stories
Non-fiction
Burn Baby Burn is a 2016 young adult novel written by Cuban-American author Meg Medina. It was first published in March, 2016 through Candlewick Press and follows a young woman growing up during the summer of 1977, when the Son of Sam began targeting young women.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America is a non-fiction book about race in the United States by the American historian Ibram X. Kendi, published April 12, 2016 by Bold Type Books, an imprint of PublicAffairs. The book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.
The Poet X, published March 6, 2018 by HarperTeen, is a young adult novel by Elizabeth Acevedo. Fifteen-year-old Xiomara, also known as "X" or "Xio," works through the tension and conflict in her family by writing poetry. The book, a New York Times bestseller, was well received and won multiple awards at the 2019 Youth Media Awards.
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out is a 2014 book written by American author Susan Kuklin. For the book, Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults, describing their sense of identity before, during, and after transitioning.
Allan Wolf is an American poet and young adult author. His books are primarily multi-perspective historical fiction in verse, but he has also published several poetry books for children. He is also an accomplished slam poet.
Lovely War is a young adult romance novel by Julie Berry, published March 5, 2019 by Viking Books for Young Readers. The book is a New York Times Bestseller and was well-received by critics.
Hearts Unbroken is a young adult romance novel written by Cynthia Leitich Smith, published October 9, 2018 by Candlewick Press.
Rani Patel in Full Effect is a young adult, historical fiction novel by Sonia Patel, published October 11, 2016 by Cinco Puntos Press.
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All is a young adult novel by Laura Ruby, published October 1, 2019, by Balzer + Bray.
We Are Okay is a young adult novel by Nina LaCour, published February 14, 2017 by Dutton Books for Young Readers.
Ghost is a young adult novel by Jason Reynolds, published August 30, 2016 by Atheneum Books. It is the first book of Reynold's Track series, followed by Patina (2017), Sunny (2018), and Lu (2018).
Almost Perfect is a young adult novel by Brian Katcher, published October 13, 2009 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers.
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks is a young adult novel written by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Alexander Nabaum, and published October 8, 2019 by Atheneum Books. The book is a New York Times best seller, National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist (2019), Coretta Scott King Award honor book (2020), and Carnegie Medal recipient (2021).
Lu is a young adult novel by Jason Reynolds, published October 23, 2018, by Atheneum. It is the fourth book in Reynold's Track series, preceded by Ghost (2016), Patina (2017), and Sunny (2018).
Sunny is a young adult novel by Jason Reynolds, published April 10, 2018, by Atheneum. It is the third book in Reynold's Track series, preceded by Ghost (2016), Patina (2017), and followed by Lu (2018).
The Sea of Ink and Gold trilogy is a three-part young adult fantasy novel series written by Traci Chee, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers. The trilogy includes the following books: The Reader (2016), The Speaker (2017), The Storyteller (2018).
We Are Not Free is a young adult historical fiction novel by Traci Chee, published September 1, 2020 by HMH Books for Young Readers. TIME included it on their list of the 100 best young adult novels of all time.
X: A Novel is a young adult novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon, published January 6, 2015 by Candlewick Press.
The Rock and the River is a young adult historical fiction novel by Kekla Magoon, published January 6th 2009 by Aladdin.
Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People is a nonfiction book about the Black Panther Party, written by Kekla Magoon and published November 23, 2021 by Candlewick Press. In 2021, the book was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
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