New Kid by Jerry Craft

New Kid | Jerry Craft | Realistic Fiction | Newbery Medal | ages 9-15 |

New Kid is a graphic novel that tells the story of Jordan Banks who, through his drawings, illustrates his life, wishing he could attend an art school. Instead, Jordan is enrolled into a high class, private school where there’s no cultural diversity. We see the struggles he faces being one of the few students of color and how he deals with them with the help of his new friends and support of family. In the end, we see Jordan coming together with a classmate who was very hard to get along, and all students coming to accept each other regardless of their differences.

The Jerry Craft graphic novel and Newbery award winner, shows appropriate comedy, addresses the common issues people of color face, and relatable struggles of trying to fit in at a new school. Because of this, I would use this book in the classroom to allow the students to see life from a different or similar perspective. It’s a fun read chapter book that I myself had trouble putting down. The appropriate grade levels in my opinion are from ages 9-15, which is the typical age of middle school students who can relate to this character. Ways I would incorporate this book into the classroom are when learning about race issues, formats of books such as graphic novels, learning about oneself and being true to yourself, and learning ethical behavior.