New Kid

"We would say this is a book for middle grade, anywhere from third or fourth grade and up. We didn’t know we were making history, but it’s the first graphic novel that’s won the Newbery Medal. It’s great. “Craft just created this really intimate and relatable world that invites kids in and holds them there” It’s about a kid, Jordan Banks, who transfers to the Riverdale Academy Day School. He’s in seventh grade and he can’t help seeing privilege everywhere. He’s one of the few African American students in the school. The beauty of the story is that he’s regularly dealing with racism and microaggressions and bullying, but there’s also friendship and learning who you are, which is especially hard in middle school. Craft just created this really intimate and relatable world that invites kids in and holds them there. This book just rose to the top for us. Yes, and that was the beauty of it. It’s really hard to be the new kid, no matter who you are. The book was very relatable to kids across the board. I also just learned that Jerry Craft is working on New Kid number two, the continuation of Jordan’s story. So I’m very excited about that."