New Kid: A Graphic Novel

Good Graphic Novel. Easy to read. Engaging.

“New Kid” by Jerry Craft is a real and funny book that reminded me of my middle school years. I laughed out loud in many places in recognition that I lived these experiences of being an outsider in a nearly all white school. What might be inside jokes for others is known to me because I lived this. You can’t make this stuff up. I found myself saying, “You too?” I wish I had this book when I was Jordan Banks’ age. I would have been less alone and have found my footing sooner. It is sad that some schools are banning this book. I highly recommend “New Kid.”

This is a perfect graphic novel for younger readers. Slice of life , being a new kid at a new school navigating school life and for people who are Bipoc how to deal with feeling other. Being called the wrong name constantly.The Graphic Novel deserved the award it got and everyone [young person] should read. It will be relatable to like kids and give others insite and perhaps learn little something?Everything flowed written to drawn pannles. It was a fun and very enjoyable quick read.

I struggle to review “New Kid” by Jerry Craft without acknowledging my lack of familiarity with the genre. It marks the first time that a graphic novel has won the Newbery Medal and you will first marvel at the amazing artwork. In a compliment (that doesn’t sound like one) to the author, it actually sounds as if it were written by an adolescent. He seems to know how they speak.Some of the themes are as old as time (“sections of the cafeteria”, getting lost, making new friends) while others, especially the racial micro-aggressions, seem spot-on and fresh. We have all heard from several that too many bring up race but “New Kid” shows you the obnoxious little things one encounters. (“Your mom’s tacos must be better”, mixing up the names of all of the black kids and staff, and “What are you, anyway?” come to mind).Still, Craft has some really smart observations to make, like the weird pressure to make a friendship with the other black kids even though they have nothing in common. In that regard, the white people come off as well-meaning and nervous so I appreciate the honesty; nonetheless, nothing is preachy and the subtle insensitivity never results in a big dramatic even, only odd thoughts. Why do the characters use race to decide what gifts to buy for the Secret Santa? Shouldn’t we dig deeper?“New Kid” probably has a solid idea of how each character would react to the private school situation: Dad feels like he is not enough in the face of Jordan’s rich friends, the wealthy kids think that people resent them for their extravagance, and Jordan struggles to reconnect with the boys from the neighborhood.In the land of #OscarsSoWhite, I am happy that no one will accuse those who select book awards of shutting out certain ethnic groups. Other perspectives should interest us as much as those with whom we identify. Jordan Banks is as identifiable character as you will meet in literature.

Massive congratulations to Jerry Craft for winning the Newbery for New Kid! A graphic novel winning the medal! We are kind of living through a Golden Age of children's fiction, aren't we? It's good to stop every once in a while to just look around and actually notice. It's the whole point of awards.⠀⠀New Kid follows Jordan Banks, a twelve-year-old kid about to start the seventh grade. A budding cartoonist, Jordan wishes for nothing more than to go to art school, but his parents, wishing him to have better opportunities than they had, decide to send him to a more affluent school. A prestigious private school, to be exact. A school where Jordan is one of the few kids of color. Being the new kid is hard enough, but this, in addition to coming from a more modest background than most of his peers, means dealing with a bunch of unwelcome challenges — not least of which being general ignorance and racism — as Jordan just tries to go about his days, trying to figure things out.⠀⠀I really enjoyed New Kid. While I was not a huge fan of the artwork itself, the story and the writing definitely won me over. I really loved — and admired — how it maintained a light and fun tone while also exploring some heavy themes. It's a deceptively casual book in this way. There are depictions of class difference, of code-switching as a person of color, of casual racism and microaggressions, of privilege and lack thereof — and they are all portrayed in the same easy-going manner. Underneath this layer of mellow, though, there's a current of frustration and exasperation that runs all the way through, which makes this casual story lose none of its pointed poignancy. Because being a person of color in this world sometimes means keeping your cool even during the most uncomfortable of times, even if you're a child.⠀⠀But these weighty subjects don't make up the whole of the story. Just as they don't make up the lives of the kids who have to deal with them. One of the central themes in New Kid has to do with Jordan's frustration with books about kids of color being extremely limited in scope: books about white kids can be about anything and still expected to be relatable; books about black kids can only be about Serious Issues and are expected to be read only by black kids. Books about white kids can be fun; books about black kids have to be severe and gritty. Jordan thinks this is extremely unfair nonsense. Because, yes, while kids like him may have to deal with more complicated situations than most others — at the end of the day they're also... just kids. Normal and goofy and beautiful and awkward and nerdy and clever kids who would love to do nothing more than just live and have fun and be happy and to see other kids like them doing likewise. This doesn't mean that books about Serious Issues are not important, only that reality is far more complex, and stories about said reality should reflect it accordingly. Because representation is important. This is what Jerry Craft does with New Kid, and does it elegantly. It's my favorite aspect of this story.⠀It's also a book that's just funny and clever, which is what instantly hooks you. Jordan and his group of friends are instantly likeable and relatable. The art, as I said, wasn't my favorite, but Craft's storytelling is clear and concise, and the book has great pacing because of it.⠀⠀It's another one of those books I wish I could give to my younger self. Which is something I often find myself saying about a lot of the kid's books I've recently read. I think that's an inevitable thought to have, though, as someone who spent their childhood reading nothing much at all, after reading a particularly great children's book. There's a sense of deprivation — of having missed out — and wanting to go back and fix that. It's bittersweet, but in a positive way, you know?⠀⠀I digress. ⠀⠀New Kid is a fine book. And it deserved to win the Newbery. And I can't wait to see what that means for the future of graphic novels and children's fiction in general.

Okay, everyone should read this book!! EVERYONE!! 😍 Even IF it’s “just for kids” (I’m not a kid, obviously, nor do I have a kid of my own yet)! I first heard of this book from an interview on NPR on the “This American Life” podcast & what made me want to read it for myself is that it has been banned in some middle school libraries . . . 🥺 I, then, offered it up as one of my book choices for my book club. I honestly thought that they weren’t gonna pick it (none of the members are kids, obviously—much less middle school kids 😉), but I am SO glad they did! 😁 I LOVED it! Jordan (the MC) is a laugh-out-loud funny kid & I SO feel for everything he’s going through in this new school. Anyway, would 1,000% recommend for your kid OR ANYONE!! 👍🏻😁😍