New KidBy Jerry Craft
Jordan Banks is in grade 7 and has been sent to a new school. But instead of going to art school, as he’d hoped, he is attending a very prestigious private school called Riverdale Academy Day School.
Jordan’s parents want the best for him, but he doesn’t exactly fit in at Riverdale (known as RAD). Unlike most students, Jordan travels to school from his apartment by city bus. Some RAD students even have their butlers drop them off! For Jordan, hanging out with rich kids takes a bit of adjustment.
But Jordan is also different in another way. He is black, and the vast majority of students are white. While there are other people of colour at RAD, he constantly feels like he is being singled out as different.
But Jordan does make new friends at school, including Liam who is rich and white. Liam’s family has so much money, in fact, that Liam worries that Jordan will judge him for being different.
New Kid is a very readable graphic novel that deals with the challenges that many kids face when they are new to a school. Author Jerry Craft even includes some of Jordan’s own art in the book. New Kid is a fantastic middle grade graphic novel!