New Kid

 

Title: New Kid

Author: Jerry Craft
Illustrator: Jerry Craft
Age group: 7-12 y/o
Awards: John Newberry Award, Coretta Scott King Award 
Genre: Graphic Novel

Summary

This book follows the story of Jordan Banks and his journey throughout Riverdale Academy Day School. While at the school, Jordan notices that there are not that many African American students and that white students dominate the school. Jordan is hesitant to go, but after making a deal with his parents that if he does not like the school he can go to the art school of his dreams, he gives it a try. He makes friends with Liam who is the boy who will be his guide. In his home room he also meets Drew and Maury who are the only other two classmates of his that are African American. Jordan tries to balance his life with his friends from Riverdale Academy Day School and the ones he had at Washington Heights. Although at the beginning Jordan Banks does not like the new private school he is going too, towards the end he feels more comfortable being at the school and is happy with the friends that he has made throughout the year.

Evaluation

The book is a really good book and I very much enjoyed reading it. I would most definitely use the book in the classroom, because everyone has been the new kid at one point. The book has many concepts that it can teach, such as being the new kid is not always a bad thing, and to make the best out of it even if there are some challenging situations. It can also be used to teach that some of the students in the book were being stereotypical, while also giving them a definition about what stereotyping is. The book can also be used to teach students about being self-confident and believing in themselves. The book New Kid has a lot of concepts that it can teach students, and it is a really good book. I love how it shows that it is always nerve-wracking going to a new school, because we don’t know what it will be like. Everyone is a new kid from the beginning of pre-k all the way through high school, unless it is a school that all the same people have been to. The illustrations were just astounding, and they add so much to the text bubbles. Through the illustrations the emotions of the characters can be seen, and they are just very detailed. I really loved the book and it was a great experience reading it, because it reminded me of the few times I was new at a school. I would most definitely recommend this book to my students and if anything family and friends, it is worth the read.