FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile
Jordan is full of anxiety at the start of seventh grade, and this full-cast audiobook production of Craft’s graphic novel gives a peek into his life. Loving parents played by Robin Miles and Guy Lockard encourage Jordan to give his new private school a try, and as Jordan gets caught in a whirlwind of new classmates, listeners hear young voices bouncing off the walls. Jordan, brightly voiced by Jesus Del Orden, loves to draw satirical comics about his life at the new school where he’s one of the few black kids—many are about microaggressions and straddling life at home in Washington Heights and at his swanky new school. A lively narration and scene-setting sound effects help make up for missing out on Craft’s illustrations. E.E.C. 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Victoria Jamieson
…Jerry Craft's new graphic novel, is a gift to readers who love the genre…As a realistic graphic novel starring a kid of color, New Kid is a desperately needed addition to middle-grade library collections everywhere. This funny, heartwarming and sometimes cringe-inducing take on middle school is sure to resonate deeply with its young audience…New Kid is at once tender and tough, funny and heartbreaking. Hand this to the middle-grade reader in your life right away.
Publishers Weekly
★ 11/26/2018
Riverdale Academy Day School is every parent’s dream for their child: it has a beautiful sprawling campus, a rigorous academic curriculum, and ample extracurricular activities. It’s also distinctly lacking in diversity. African-American new kid Jordan Banks would rather go to art school, but his parents have enrolled him, so he dutifully commutes to the Bronx from his home in Washington Heights, Manhattan. When he’s not being confused with the few other students of color, he is being spoken to in slang, is receiving looks when financial aid is mentioned, or is forced to navigate many more micro-aggressions. Artwork by Craft interweaves the story with Jordan’s sketchbook drawings, which convey the tension of existing in two markedly different places. The sketches show him being called “angry” for his observations, feeling minuscule in a cafeteria, and traveling by public transportation across different socioeconomic and racially segregated neighborhoods, changing his outfit and demeanor to fit in. This engaging story offers an authentic secondary cast and captures the high jinks of middle schoolers and the tensions that come with being a person of color in a traditionally white space. Ages 8–12. Agent: Judy Hansen, Hansen Literary. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
Funny, sharp, and totally real! Jordan Banks is the kid everyone will be talking about!” — Jeff Kinney, Author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
★“Possibly one of the most important graphic novels of the year.” — Booklist (starred review)
★“An engrossing, humorous, and vitally important graphic novel that should be required reading in every middle school in America.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
★“This is more than a story about being the new kid—it’s a complex examination of the micro- and macroaggressions that Jordan endures from classmates and teachers. Highly recommended for all middle grade shelves.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
★“This engaging story offers an authentic secondary cast and captures the high jinks of middle schoolers and the tensions that come with being a person of color in a traditionally white space.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
★ “Award-winning author/illustrator Jerry Craft confronts elitism, microaggression, racism, socioeconomic disparity and white privilege in a familiar setting. His preteen audiences will undoubtedly recognize and empathize with Craft’s memorable cast.” — Shelf Awareness, (starred review)
“Craft’s full-color comics art is dynamic and expressive. This school story stands out as a robust, contemporary depiction of a preteen navigating sometimes hostile spaces yet staying true to himself thanks to friends, family, and art.” — Horn Book Magazine
“New Kid is at once tender and tough, funny and heartbreaking. Hand this to the middle-grade reader in your life right away.” — The New York Times Book Review
"This story captures the tensions that come with being a person of color in a traditionally white space." — Publishers Weekly
“Genuine characters propel this funny, warm, biting, fearless story. Entertaining and insightful, it will surely offer affirmation for some readers, revelation for others.” — Cooperative Children’s Book Center
“An honest and compelling read for any kid looking for a place to belong.” — Scholastic Teacher Magazine
“This beautifully crafted work captures ‘tween angst, recognizes everyday and systemic injustice, and challenges everyone to do better by every kid." — The San Francisco Chronicle
Shelf Awareness
★ “Award-winning author/illustrator Jerry Craft confronts elitism, microaggression, racism, socioeconomic disparity and white privilege in a familiar setting. His preteen audiences will undoubtedly recognize and empathize with Craft’s memorable cast.
The New York Times Book Review
New Kid is at once tender and tough, funny and heartbreaking. Hand this to the middle-grade reader in your life right away.
Horn Book Magazine
Craft’s full-color comics art is dynamic and expressive. This school story stands out as a robust, contemporary depiction of a preteen navigating sometimes hostile spaces yet staying true to himself thanks to friends, family, and art.
Booklist (starred review)
★“Possibly one of the most important graphic novels of the year.
Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Genuine characters propel this funny, warm, biting, fearless story. Entertaining and insightful, it will surely offer affirmation for some readers, revelation for others.
Jeff Kinney
Funny, sharp, and totally real! Jordan Banks is the kid everyone will be talking about!
The San Francisco Chronicle
This beautifully crafted work captures ‘tween angst, recognizes everyday and systemic injustice, and challenges everyone to do better by every kid."
Scholastic Teacher Magazine
An honest and compelling read for any kid looking for a place to belong.
Booklist (starred review)
★“Possibly one of the most important graphic novels of the year.
Cooperative Children's Book Center
Genuine characters propel this funny, warm, biting, fearless story. Entertaining and insightful, it will surely offer affirmation for some readers, revelation for others.
School Library Journal
★ 11/01/2018
Gr 4–7—Jordan Banks is anxious about being the new kid at Riverdale, especially since he'd rather be going to art school. He's even more nervous when he realizes that, unlike in his Washington Heights neighborhood, at Riverdale, he's one of the few kids of color. Despite some setbacks, Jordan eventually makes a few friends and chronicles his experiences in his sketch pad. This is more than a story about being the new kid—it's a complex examination of the micro- and macroaggressions that Jordan endures from classmates and teachers. He is regularly mistaken for the other black kids at school. A teacher calls another black student by the wrong name and singles him out during discussions on financial aid. Even Jordan's supportive parents don't always understand the extent of the racism he faces. This book opens doors for additional discussion. Craft's illustrations are at their best during the vibrant full-page spreads. The art loses a bit of detail during crowd scenes, but the characters' emotions are always well conveyed. Jordan's black-and-white notebook drawings are the highlight of this work, combining effective social commentary with the protagonist's humorous voice. VERDICT Highly recommended for all middle grade shelves.—Gretchen Hardin, Sterling Municipal Library, Baytown, TX
FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile
Jordan is full of anxiety at the start of seventh grade, and this full-cast audiobook production of Craft’s graphic novel gives a peek into his life. Loving parents played by Robin Miles and Guy Lockard encourage Jordan to give his new private school a try, and as Jordan gets caught in a whirlwind of new classmates, listeners hear young voices bouncing off the walls. Jordan, brightly voiced by Jesus Del Orden, loves to draw satirical comics about his life at the new school where he’s one of the few black kids—many are about microaggressions and straddling life at home in Washington Heights and at his swanky new school. A lively narration and scene-setting sound effects help make up for missing out on Craft’s illustrations. E.E.C. 2020 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-10-15
Jordan Banks takes readers down the rabbit hole and into his mostly white prep school in this heartbreakingly accurate middle-grade tale of race, class, microaggressions, and the quest for self-identity.
He may be the new kid, but as an African-American boy from Washington Heights, that stigma entails so much more than getting lost on the way to homeroom. Riverdale Academy Day School, located at the opposite end of Manhattan, is a world away, and Jordan finds himself a stranger in a foreign land, where pink clothing is called salmon, white administrators mistake a veteran African-American teacher for the football coach, and white classmates ape African-American Vernacular English to make themselves sound cool. Jordan's a gifted artist, and his drawings blend with the narrative to give readers a full sense of his two worlds and his methods of coping with existing in between. Craft skillfully employs the graphic-novel format to its full advantage, giving his readers a delightful and authentic cast of characters who, along with New York itself, pop off the page with vibrancy and nuance. Shrinking Jordan to ant-sized proportions upon his entering the school cafeteria, for instance, transforms the lunchroom into a grotesque Wonderland in which his lack of social standing becomes visually arresting and viscerally uncomfortable.
An engrossing, humorous, and vitally important graphic novel that should be required reading in every middle school in America. (Graphic fiction. 10-14)
