New Kid
by Jerry Craft
New Kid follows Jordan Banks, a twelve-year-old Black kid from Washington Heights who loves drawing and dreams of attending art school. Instead, his parents enroll him at Riverdale Academy Day School, a prestigious and overwhelmingly white private institution where Jordan must navigate a landscape of microaggressions, assumptions, and the constant pressure to represent his entire race.
Jerry Craft uses the graphic novel format to devastating effect, showing the gap between how Jordan sees the world and how the world sees him. Through Jordan's own drawings and observations, we experience the daily emotional labor of code-switching: adjusting your language, your walk, your very self depending on which world you are standing in. The humor is sharp but never dismissive, and the pain is real but never exploitative.
What makes New Kid essential is its insistence on the ordinary. Jordan is not facing a life-threatening crisis; he is facing the slow, grinding work of being himself in a place that constantly misreads him. For young readers, this validation of everyday struggle is profoundly important.
Falling Into Identity
Jordan's experience at Riverdale Academy is a textbook case of Falling Into Identity with a growth outcome of self-definition. He does not choose this fall; it is chosen for him the moment he steps into a space where his Blackness becomes the most visible thing about him. Every interaction forces him to negotiate between the Jordan his neighborhood knows and the Jordan his school expects, and neither version feels entirely like him.
The self-definition that emerges is hard-won and ongoing. Jordan does not arrive at a neat resolution where both worlds suddenly understand him. Instead, he learns to draw his own map, literally and figuratively, refusing to let others define the boundaries of who he can be. His art becomes the space where his full self can exist without translation, and by the novel's end, Jordan has claimed the right to be complicated, contradictory, and completely himself.
Emotional Arc Breakdown
Descent Phase
Jordan's first days at Riverdale are marked by being confused for the other Black students, enduring casual racism from classmates and teachers, and feeling invisible as himself while hyper-visible as a Black body. His confidence in his own identity begins to erode.
Turning Point
When Jordan begins to use his art to document and process what he experiences, he transforms from a passive observer into an active narrator of his own story. His friendship with Drew and Liam also shows him that authentic connection is possible across difference.
Growth Outcome
Jordan stops trying to fit neatly into either world and starts defining himself on his own terms. He speaks up against injustice at school, maintains his friendships in his neighborhood, and uses his art as the bridge between who he is and who others see.
Who This Book Helps
- Students of color navigating predominantly white institutions
- Readers who feel they must be different versions of themselves in different spaces
- Young people who process their world through art or creative expression
- Anyone who has been the "new kid" and felt the weight of not belonging
- Educators looking for accessible texts about microaggressions and systemic bias
- Middle-grade readers ready for honest conversations about race and class
Discussion Questions
- How does Jerry Craft use the graphic novel format to show the difference between how Jordan sees himself and how others see him? Can you find specific panels that illustrate this gap?
- Jordan's map of his neighborhood versus his map of the school represent two different worlds. What do these maps reveal about how space shapes identity?
- Why is the friendship between Jordan, Drew, and Liam significant? What does it suggest about the possibility of genuine connection across racial and class lines?
- How do the adults in the book, both teachers and parents, contribute to or challenge the systems Jordan navigates? Are any of them fully aware of his experience?
- Jordan wants to go to art school, but his parents chose Riverdale. How does this tension between personal dreams and parental expectations shape his identity journey?
Emotional Intensity
New Kid carries a gentle emotional intensity that makes it accessible to younger readers while still addressing serious themes. The humor and warmth of Jordan's narration provide a safe container for discussions about racism and belonging. There is no violence or explicit content, making it an excellent entry point for conversations about systemic inequality.
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FAQ
New Kid follows Jordan Banks, a Black seventh-grader from Washington Heights who dreams of attending art school but is instead enrolled at a prestigious private school where he is one of few students of color. The graphic novel explores his daily experience of navigating microaggressions, code-switching, and the exhausting work of maintaining his identity in a predominantly white space.
New Kid won the 2020 Newbery Medal for its exceptional portrayal of the middle school experience through the lens of race and class. Jerry Craft's graphic novel format allowed him to show the gap between how Jordan sees himself and how others see him, making the experience of being "the new kid" both specific and universal.
New Kid brilliantly illustrates code-switching through its visual format, showing Jordan literally transforming as he moves between his neighborhood and school. Craft depicts the emotional labor of adjusting language, behavior, and self-presentation to fit different environments, revealing how exhausting it is to constantly translate yourself for others.