New Kid -Book 5

Written and illustrated by Jerry Craft.

Published by HarperCollins Children's Books. Released February 5th 2019.

• Genre/Category: A realistic, contemporary fiction graphic novel for Pre K-6th & Coretta Scott King Award winner (American Library Association, 2026).
  

• Targeted Age Group: 8-12 years old.
  

• Plot Summary: Jordan is a 12-year-old creative soul with a dream to go to art school, but instead is sent to an elite private school focused more on academia than artistry. Starting 7th grade is hard enough, and only gets harder when he has to learn to navigate a school culture that doesn't seem to want him there.
  

• Why This Book?: The Coretta Scott King awards page was bursting with fascinating looking books. I only wish I had time to choose them all. Narrowing down the choices was hard, but one of the things that stood out to me about New Kid specifically was the audiobook offering on Libby. It was advertised as a full cast reading, with sound effects and music. Jordan is a reeally artistic child, and he imagines the world in an almost animated way. The original book is a graphic novel, which fits his character, so I thought this audio interpretation was another wonderful way to bring Jordan's cartoony imagination to life. Evaluation:

  • Audiobook Experience: The New Kid audiobook absolutely spoils its reader. It's not every day an audiobook has sound effects, music, and a full voice cast. I admit, audiobooks aren't my favorite way to read. Long ago my first one was a full cast reading of The Fellowship of the Ring also with music and sound effects and I've been chasing that kind of experience ever since. New Kid is the closest I've come to it so far. Not an epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings, but it can be argued that middle school is scarier than Sauron. The cast of New Kid absolutely deserves their flowers. No one is stiffly reading their script. They're more voice acting than narrating, but everyone's diction is clear. It's more like listening to a radio drama than listening to a book. I checked out the graphic novel version just to compare it to the audiobook, and realized the audiobook listeners get extra bonuses. There are little moments scattered throughout that aren't written in the dialogue.
    

    

    In the Audiobook: Dad: Back to School... is that a history textbook eating a student? And a calculator destroying the city? Jordan (with a giggle) : Yeah. (Craft, 2019, 2:22)

    I've never listened to an audiobook for a graphic novel before, so I'm sure part of it is to describe what is happening on the page for the audio listeners. But these are still really creative moments of characterization.
    

  • Draw your World: Being 12 years old is hard. Being a 12 year old fish out of water is even harder. Jordan has to navigate academic elitism, and racial inequality, and make his parents proud, all before hitting his teens. But Jordan has a secret power: his art. Drawing is Jordan's escape. And not just his escape, but his regulation tool. Throughout the book, we get Jordan's "sketchbook breaks," where he gives us the insider knowledge of what's going on in the city, at school, and in his brain. This is a case where the graphic novel shines over the audiobook. Since Jordan is an artist, it's great to see his creations and get a peek into his psyche.
    

    

    Jordan's sketchbook break gives us the 411 on taking the bus in NYC

    
    

  • Quiet Part Out Loud: One of the areas New Kid shines is not pulling its punches when portraying conversations about race and inequality. Jordan peacefully goes through his school life, and gets hit by jarring moments, like students all facing him and the one other black kid in class when the teachers mention financial aid, or kids asking him if he lives only with one parent. These are moments adults want to shield their children from, but they are the real experiences kids like Jordan face every day. Much like what I discussed in my post on A Little Like Magic, dodging these discussions isn't going to erase what kids observe. One of the moments I find most meaningful is in chapter 6, when Jordan's parents are coming back from a parent-teacher conference and start talking to him about what his teachers said. The conversation is light, but takes a turn when his dad says "And Jordan, we also got a sense of what it must be like for you there. I know it can't be easy, son." Then his mother immediately responds with "No, but it's necessary." (Craft, 2019, 43:43) It then leads to a tense back and forth between the parents, where Jordan's dad doesn't want Jordan sucked into a world that doesn't accept him, while his mom wants Jordan to face these challenges early so he can navigate that world and have better opportunities than she and her husband did. It's an earnestly adult conversation, about very parental worries with no right or wrong answer. The scene ends with no resolution, just a terse "Fine!" from mom. An adult may see this as too much, but I appreciate that New Kid doesn't shy from showing children these moments. Young et. al. talk about authors patronizing their readers as a sign of weak writing (Young et. al., 2020). They mention it specifically in regard to language, but it absolutely applies to themes as well. These are the struggles minority families face every day. It's already in these children's world. They should see it in their stories too. New Kid would be a great addition to an older elementary and middle school library. For the elementary students, it's a story that can give them the insight to process the changes that come with changing schools. For middle schoolers, it's a story that speaks to things they may be experiencing in the present. This book is also a great resource to have on hand for new kids coming in partway through a school year. It would also make a great addition to a Black History Month display.
    

References:

• Craft, J. (2019). New Kid. (J. Craft, Illus.). HarperCollins Children's Books.

• American Library Association. (2026). Coretta Scott King Book Awards. https://www.ala.org/awards/books-media/coretta-scott-king-book-awards

• Young, T. A., Bryan, G., Jacobs, J. S., & Tunnell, M. O. (2020). Children's Literature, Briefly. Pearson.