New Kid by Jerry Craft

 

Last week, I read the graphic novel, New Kid by Jerry Craft. This book is about Jordan Banks, a twelve-year-old who wants to go to art school and be a cartoonist, but whose parents send him to Riverdale Academy Day School instead. Although RAD is a private school with great academics, Jordan is one of the only black kids there and finds himself struggling to fit in. Over the school year, Jordan begins to make new friends while keeping his neighborhood friends and learns how to navigate his new school.

I enjoyed reading New Kid because it blended the challenge of switching schools with humor. I thought Jordan was absolutely hilarious sometimes, especially his comics, which gave plenty of insight into his life and his opinions about RAD. It was fun, too, how Craft put a spin on pop culture references in the chapter titles. The story had a lot of warmth and heart and the facial expressions of the characters in the illustrations were outstanding. I could tell exactly how the characters were feeling when they were bullied, teased, or had a teacher or classmate call them the wrong names. I would recommend this graphic novel to anyone who has ever had to make new friends or wants to read a realistic story told through comics.