Review by New York Times Review
Graphic novels provide a uniquely intimate reading experience. Through words and images, readers are invited into homes and schools; they are free to peek into corners and to quietly observe the worlds of the characters we meet, new kid (HarperCollins, 256 pp., $12.99; ages 8 to 12), the cartoonist Jerry Craft's new graphic novel, is a gift to readers who love the genre. Craft invites us into the world of Jordan Banks, one of the few African-American students at a fancy private school. 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. Jordan is an art-loving seventh grader who, against his will, is sent by his parents to the prestigious (and mostly white) Riverdale Academy Day School. Jordan's struggle is neatly echoed by his parents: His mother, who works at a largely white publishing firm, thinks Jordan needs to learn how to handle feeling like an outsider if he will ever succeed in corporate America. Jordan's father, on the other hand, runs a community center in their Washington Heights neighborhood and fears his son is losing touch with his roots. Jordan is caught somewhere in the middle, and his coming-of-age tale means navigating the path between his new, more affluent peers and his friends and loved ones in his neighborhood. A timely, and very funny, visit from his grandfather helps Jordan see that he does not need to choose one life or another, but can embrace the aspects of both worlds that bring him happiness. "New Kid" is a classic coming-of-age tale in many ways. Jordan dreams of being more like Batman, and he yearns for a growth spurt. He must navigate new friends, school bullies and fears of being spontaneously kissed by a girl who seems to like him. But Craft also gives us an intimate look at the particular struggles faced by Jordan as a minority kid at a mostly white school. His daily bus ride alone is exhausting. Jordan wears his hood and his sunglasses while he's in his own neighborhood so he appears tough and can feel safe. Once he's in the next neighborhood over, he takes his hood down and pulls out his sketchbook. As he approaches school, however, he must put his markers away again for fear that someone will think he is going to tag the bus. As two of his new schoolmates put it, he must appear kinda cool, yet nonthreatening. In addition to figuring out how to find his way through Riverdale's sprawling campus, he must also deal with garden-variety aggression as well as microaggressions from classmates and teachers alike. His homeroom teacher, Ms. Rawie, continually calls Drew, another black student, by the wrong name. When Drew and Jordan choose to spend a frigid recess indoors together, Ms. Rawie is concerned that they don't "associate" with other students. These aggravations build in intensity until a cafeteria altercation with the class bully threatens to get Drew suspended - but Jordan channels his superpowers and finds a voice to express his point of view about the injustices he's faced throughout the year. While he may not yet be in full Batman mode (after standing up to his teacher, he runs to throw up in the boys' room), he is one step closer to Bruce Wayne: comfortable in the boardroom and in rough neighborhoods, and willing to stand up for the little guy. "New Kid" is at once tender and tough, funny and heartbreaking. Hand this to the middle-grade reader in your life right away. Lincoln Peirce, creator of the best-selling Big Nate series, hits it out of the park again with his newest book, max and the MIDKNIGHTS (Crown, 277 pp., $13.99; ages 8 to 12). This rollicking, irreverent tale of knights, troubadours and magicians proves Peirce is a middle-schooler at heart. Told in a hybrid comics and novel form, with a fast-moving plot and bad puns aplenty, "Max and the Midknights" will keep even the most reluctant of readers engaged to the end. Max is an apprentice to Sir Budrick, who happens to be the least talented troubadour of the 14 th century. Max, however, has no interest in the life of a traveling entertainer and dreams of becoming a valiant knight instead. When Sir Budrick (who is also Max's uncle) is kidnapped by the evil King Gastley of Byjovia, Max teams up with a ragtag bunch of kids to save him. The plot is filled with twists, the most delightful of which is revealed fairly early on. Max, as it turns out, is a girl, not a boy, as readers may assume. (I recommend you don't tell kids ahead of time!) This revelation adds a new layer to her dreams of knighthood, and feels like a deliciously subversive jab at the tired notion of "girl books" versus "boy books." The story moves at a fast clip, and Max, with the help of the magician Mumblin, embarks on a quest with her friends and her uncle (who is now a goose - it's a long story) to restore the rightful King Conrad to the throne of Byjovia. Along the way they encounter zombie warriors, exiled knights, fire-breathing dragons and one truly evil sorceress. Through acts of bravery and with a little help from her friends, Max claims her rightful title of Knight of the Realm. "Max and the Midknights" is a vastly entertaining mix of action, adventure and humor. The lighthearted tale also touches on deeper topics of gender nonconformity, as characters question why girls can't be knights or magicians, or why boys can't write books or tell stories. At its heart, however, it is pure fun. VICTORIA JAMIESON is the author and illustrator of several graphic novels for young readers, including the Newbery Honor-winning "Roller Girl." Her next book will be published in 2020.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 9, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Don't let the title fool you. Seventh-grader Jordan Banks may be the new kid at his upper-crust private school, but this remarkably honest and accessible story is not just about being new; it's unabashedly about race. Example after uncomfortable example hits the mark: casual assumptions about black students' families and financial status, black students being mistaken for one another, well-intentioned teachers awkwardly stumbling over language, competition over skin tones among the black students themselves. Yet it's clear that everyone has a burden to bear, from the weird girl to the blond boy who lives in a mansion, and, indeed, Jordan only learns to navigate his new world by not falling back on his own assumptions. Craft's easy-going art and ingenious use of visual metaphor loosen things up considerably, and excerpts from Jordan's sketch book provide several funny, poignant, and insightful asides. It helps keep things light and approachable even as Jordan's parents tussle over the question of what's best for their son to follow the world's harsh rules so he can fit in or try to pave his own difficult road. A few climactic moments of resolution feel a touch too pat, but Craft's voice rings urgent and empathetic. Speaking up about the unrepresented experience of so many students makes this a necessary book, particularly for this age group. Possibly one of the most important graphic novels of the year.--Jesse Karp Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Crafts engaging graphic novel follows Jordan Banks (an African American seventh grader from Washington Heights) through his first year at the prestigious Riverdale Academy Day School (RAD). Jordan has his sights set on an art-focused high school, but his mother sees RAD as a necessary means to open up new doors. Jordans father is less comfortable with immersing his son in a predominantly white school and worries about RADs lack of diversity. Those concerns are indeed merited, as Jordan confronts both covert and overt racism on a daily basis, from the code-switching necessary to manage the bus ride to and from school, to the two-dimensional tales of black sorrow available at the book fair, to being made to feel insignificant when mistaken for another student of color. Slowly, however, he begins to develop suppor-tive relationships with RAD classmates of different races. Jordan documents his thoughts, feelings, and observations in his sketchbook, shown in interludes throughout the main narrative. Crafts full-color comics art is dynamic and expressive, generously adorned by emojis, arrows, and imaginative elements such as the small winged cherubs who frequently hover over Jordans shoulders; each chapter is introduced by a witty, foreshadowing double-page spread. 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. patrick gall January/February 2019 p 88(c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
