Class Act

by Jerry Craft, Jerry Craft (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

When Drew and Jordan return to RAD for second form (or eighth grade), it’s still hard for them to understand how they fit in amongst the sea of wealthy, white students. This time, we get to spend more time with Drew as we see him navigate his friendship with ultra-wealthy Liam and deal with microaggressions and racial stereotyping from his classmates and teachers alike. This outstanding sequel to New Kid is sure to start important conversations about race, class, identity, friendship, bullying and more, all while still making readers laugh with Drew and Jordan’s hilarious banter.

New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft returns with a companion book to New Kid, winner of the 2020 Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize. This time, it’s Jordan’s friend Drew who takes center stage in another laugh-out-loud funny, powerful, and important story about being one of the few kids of color in a prestigious private school.

Eighth grader Drew Ellis is no stranger to the saying “You have to work twice as hard to be just as good.” His grandmother has reminded him his entire life. But what if he works ten times as hard and still isn’t afforded the same opportunities that his privileged classmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted?

To make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids. He wants to pretend like everything is fine, but it's hard not to withdraw, and even their mutual friend Jordan doesn't know how to keep the group together.

As the pressures mount, will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his friends can truly accept each other? And most important, will he finally be able to accept himself?

New Kid, the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Medal, is now joined by Jerry Craft's powerful Class Act.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781663615435
Publisher:	Perfection Learning Corporation
Publication date:	11/04/2020
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Jerry Craft is a #1 New York Times bestselling author-illustrator who has worked on numerous picture books, graphic novels, and middle grade novels, including the Newbery Medal-winning graphic novel New Kid and its companion, Class Act. New Kid is also the winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Kirkus Prize. Jerry is the creator of Mama’s Boyz, an award-winning syndicated comic strip. He has won five African American Literary Awards and is a cofounder of the Schomburg Center’s Annual Black Comic Book Festival. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts and now lives in Connecticut. 

Jerry Craft is a #1 New York Times bestselling author-illustrator who has worked on numerous picture books, graphic novels, and middle grade novels, including the Newbery Medal-winning graphic novel New Kid and its companion, Class Act. New Kid is also the winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Kirkus Prize. Jerry is the creator of Mama’s Boyz, an award-winning syndicated comic strip. He has won five African American Literary Awards and is a cofounder of the Schomburg Center’s Annual Black Comic Book Festival. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts and now lives in Connecticut. 

Editorial Reviews

★ 10/05/2020

In this companion to Newbery winner New Kid, eighth grader Drew Ellis embarks on a turbulent second year at the prestigious Riverdale Academy Day School in the Bronx alongside best friends Jordan Banks and Liam Landers. Drew and Jordan, who are both African American, face different struggles: Jordan, an aspiring cartoonist from Washington Heights, Manhattan, wishes he could attend art school instead, while Drew, an excellent basketball player from the Bronx, worries he’ll fulfill a stereotype if he joins the school team. Yet they both suffer microaggressions at their predominantly white, upper-class private school; in one scene, a non-Black student runs her hands through Drew’s hair, despite his vocal discomfort, and in another, white students give Black classmates—excluding Jordan—“reparations” after watching an exploitative film called The Mean Streets of South Uptown. Interwoven comics by Jordan further depict his experiences as a light-skinned Black boy, while parodic chapter title spreads offer levity. Deftly weaving discussions of race, socioeconomics, colorism, and solidarity into an accessible narrative, Craft offers a charming cast journeying through the complicated landscapes of puberty, self-definition, and changing friendships, all while grappling with the tensions of attending an institution that structurally and culturally neglects students of color. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Agent: Judy Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A well-Crafted, visually rich, truth-telling tale for our troubled times that affirms the eternal importance of friends.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Craft makes the story honest and believable and presents it as a powerful, if difficult to achieve, real-world possibility. Another work of resounding understanding and empathy.” — Booklist (starred review)

“Lightning strikes twice as Craft again produces a funny and appealing yet sensitive and nuanced middle grade tale of inequity and microaggressions.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“Hilarious and heartfelt. Craft adeptly balances poignant questions…with laugh-out-loud moments of adolescence, making Class Act a substantial snapshot of the interior life of boys, especially Black boys who are too often not afforded such attention, love, and care.” — The Horn Book (starred review)

"Craft approaches Drew’s—and his devoted friends’—dilemmas with candor and respect. Kids who missed volume one can dive in here and backtrack later; kids already on board will identify episodes and new characters around which they can build hope for a third entry."

— Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

“Deftly weaving discussions of race, socioeconomics, colorism, and solidarity into an accessible narrative, Craft offers a charming cast journeying through the complicated landscapes of puberty, self-definition, and changing friendships, all while grappling with the tensions of attending an institution that structurally and culturally neglects students of color.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A warm hug of a book…Class Act’s modeling of thoughtful communication and its celebration of friendship are appealing and heartfelt. Craft’s expressive characters, strong command of vibrant color and hits of visual humor—including references to popular books in the double-page spreads that open each chapter—are downright delightful.” — BookPage

“A moving and often very funny story about the convergence of an awkward age (13 to 14) with an awkward age (America’s racial reckoning)…. [Craft] balances his biting sendup of American race relations with poignant family portraits, and the art is most striking in quiet moments.” — The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

A warm hug of a book…Class Act’s modeling of thoughtful communication and its celebration of friendship are appealing and heartfelt. Craft’s expressive characters, strong command of vibrant color and hits of visual humor—including references to popular books in the double-page spreads that open each chapter—are downright delightful.

BookPage

Craft makes the story honest and believable and presents it as a powerful, if difficult to achieve, real-world possibility. Another work of resounding understanding and empathy.

Booklist (starred review)

Hilarious and heartfelt. Craft adeptly balances poignant questions…with laugh-out-loud moments of adolescence, making Class Act a substantial snapshot of the interior life of boys, especially Black boys who are too often not afforded such attention, love, and care.

The Horn Book (starred review)

A moving and often very funny story about the convergence of an awkward age (13 to 14) with an awkward age (America’s racial reckoning)…. [Craft] balances his biting sendup of American race relations with poignant family portraits, and the art is most striking in quiet moments.

The New York Times Book Review

"Craft approaches Drew’s—and his devoted friends’—dilemmas with candor and respect. Kids who missed volume one can dive in here and backtrack later; kids already on board will identify episodes and new characters around which they can build hope for a third entry."

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

Hilarious and heartfelt. Craft adeptly balances poignant questions…with laugh-out-loud moments of adolescence, making Class Act a substantial snapshot of the interior life of boys, especially Black boys who are too often not afforded such attention, love, and care.

The Horn Book Magazine (starred review)

★ 10/01/2020

Gr 4–8—Picking up where New Kid left off, this sequel finds Jordan starting another riotous, discomfiting year at Riverdale Academy Day School and pondering his future. For now, he has time to burn alongside best friends Drew and Liam. An initial sequence following the three boys' daily commutes encapsulates conflicts to come. Lighter-skinned Black, middle-class Jordan eats breakfast with his loving parents before his father drives him to school from Manhattan. Drew, who is also Black yet darker-skinned and working-class and whose doting grandmother is already at work when he leaves for school, catches two buses from Co-op City. Live-in staff attend to white, wealthy Liam while his parents, entrenched in cold war at opposite ends of the table, ignore their three children. Craft hereafter toggles among these points of view but focuses on Drew, who must work "twice as hard to go half as far." Once again, the author/illustrator's full-color panels captivate, drawing on comics' capacity for visual metaphor and hyperbole to deliver heavy payloads. He relies on Jordan's cartoons—rendered in simple, black-and-white linework—to pause the narrative and deliver incisive, bite-size observations on race, socioeconomic status, burgeoning individuality, and pubescent perils. (Lest the subject matter seem overwhelming, be it known that the book is hilarious—see, for instance, the interstitial title pages parodying popular graphic novel covers.) In time, the growing boys—unlike their school, which has no clue how to address institutional inequities and simmering tensions—initiate the painful but necessary work required to truly see and support one another. VERDICT Lightning strikes twice as Craft again produces a funny and appealing yet sensitive and nuanced middle grade tale of inequity and microaggressions.—Steven Thompson, Bound Brook Memorial P.L., NJ

School Library Journal

Listeners will delight in being back with their friends from NEW KID and hearing about the ups and downs of eighth grade from multiple points of view. Jordan is excited but nervous to be back in school, and Jesus Del Orden’s bright voice matches Jordan’s sweet and observant personality. Drew, compellingly portrayed by Nile Bullock, has an easy time connecting with Jordan, but they both continue to feel uncomfortable about how they are treated by their mostly wealthy white classmates and teachers. Subtle sound effects and lively voices from a full cast help listeners imagine the bustling hallways as Drew and Jordan navigate the minefield of racist microaggressions, colorism, crushes, and rocky friendships. Listeners who love this audio version will want to seek out the graphic novel companion. E.E.C. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2021 - AudioFile

Listeners will delight in being back with their friends from NEW KID and hearing about the ups and downs of eighth grade from multiple points of view. Jordan is excited but nervous to be back in school, and Jesus Del Orden’s bright voice matches Jordan’s sweet and observant personality. Drew, compellingly portrayed by Nile Bullock, has an easy time connecting with Jordan, but they both continue to feel uncomfortable about how they are treated by their mostly wealthy white classmates and teachers. Subtle sound effects and lively voices from a full cast help listeners imagine the bustling hallways as Drew and Jordan navigate the minefield of racist microaggressions, colorism, crushes, and rocky friendships. Listeners who love this audio version will want to seek out the graphic novel companion. E.E.C. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2021 - AudioFile

★ 2020-07-28
Jordan Banks has returned to the elite Riverdale Academy Day School for eighth grade, and although he still doesn’t smell like an eighth grade boy—much to his dismay—his growth spurt comes in other forms.

Unlike New Kid (2019), this sequel offers the perspectives of not just Jordan, but also his best friend, Drew, and his wealthy White friend, Liam. As Jordan navigates what may be his last year at RAD before transferring to art school, he frequently compares his experiences with Drew’s: Both boys are Black, but Drew is taller, more athletic, and has darker skin. Drew also has a new flattop that attracts unwanted touching from non-Black kids. This story focuses on how differently RAD students and teachers treat light-skinned Jordan and dark-skinned Drew and also how middle-class Jordan, working-class Drew, and rich Liam negotiate a friendship of mutual respect and care. RAD administrators and teachers have also realized that they need to work on diversity, equity, and inclusion, but their leadership choice for this initiative results in more microaggressions for the students of color. Jordan’s cartoon “intermissions,” black-and-white pencil sketches, capture his imaginative wit while conveying perceptive observations about race and class that ring true. Each chapter’s title page textually and illustratively echoes popular graphic works for young readers such as Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

A well-Crafted, visually rich, truth-telling tale for our troubled times that affirms the eternal importance of friends. (author's note) (Graphic fiction. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews