Review of Coretta Scott King Award Winner: New Kid by Jerry Craft






Summary:

New Kid is a graphic novel that follows a school year in the life of Jordan, an African American student whose parents placed him in a predominantly white elite academic academy starting his 7th grade year (I think it was 7th grade -- they referred to him as a "first form", and 1st and 2nd form were before high school). Jordan loves to draw and wanted to go to art school. While the school does arrange for a student guide who ends up being friendly with Jordan, that can't make up for other subtle hints of racism that show up. The academy is a long way from his neighborhood in every way possible. During the lengthy commute and his time in school we see the struggle as Jordan wants to fit in at the new school while maintaining his neighborhood friendships.

Criteria:

This book fit all the criteria for my reviews: it is a Coretta Scott King award winner, published in 2019, and I had not read it prior to this semester. I didn't realize when I selected it that it was a graphic novel, but ended up enjoying that aspect also. Another thing that enticed me to choose this one was that as I was scrolling Coretta Scott King award winners to choose from I was using the screen in my classroom as students were coming in. When I told them I was trying to choose a book, several students mentioned how good New Kid is. Sold! 

Booklist and Publisher's Weekly are 2 of the 4 reviews that include terms such as necessary, highly recommend, and engaging.

Response:

Tension:

New Kid was uncomfortable for me as a person and a mom and a teacher. My mom still lives in the house we moved into when I was in 2nd grade. I went to the same school from 1st grade through graduation. My only experience being a new kid was leaving for college when everyone was new, and also viewing my kids being the new kid the 2 times we moved. New Kid caused me to consider who all I snubbed or was obnoxious to because my world was so small and I never considered that other people may be trying to fit in and make friends. New Kid also caused me to ache again watching my kids try to fit in at a new school and not being able to fix it for them. As a teacher, it was also a good time to examine what ways I convey any bias I may have to my students. I will be looking for other titles from this author and recommending New Kid to my students and coworkers alike.

Pacing

New Kid starts on the first day of school and ends the next summer, shortly after school is released for the summer. I love that the rhythm of the book is the exact rhythm that students (and teachers and parents) use to mark time. All from Jordan's perspective, we could feel the tempo of the school year.

Illustrations:

New Kid is a graphic novel so the illustrations are woven into the story. The illustrations are beautiful and add to the story nicely. The overall feel of the illustrations added to the settings of Peter's home, school, and his (wealthy) friend's home. 

Craft, J. (2019). New kid. HarperCollins.

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