Hello! So today, I am doing another review! I mean, what did you expect? For this week, I’ll be doing a previous Battle of the Books book, New Kid by Jerry Craft. This one is a bit different than the other books I’ve reviewed on the podcast.
Instead of being a novel, which I usually read, this is a graphic novel! Or a comic book if that’s what you want to call it. I hope everyone enjoys this week’s episode, and here we go!
The Book Review Podcast
The Review
The graphic novel by Jerry Craft is a story about our protagonist, Jordan Banks, and his journey through seventh grade. He originally wanted to go to an art school because that’s what Jordan is passionate about: Art!
He loves sketching and drawing and doing art-related stuff. Unfortunately for him, his mother has different ideas for him. Jordan’s mom wants him to attend this new school that is all about academics, Riverdale Academy Day School.
Even though Jordan isn’t the happiest about the decision, he has to go anyway. Jordan has to “survive” seventh grade being the new kid.
The story teaches the readings about stereotypes; for example, an incident happens with one of Jordan’s new friends, Drew and secret Santa.
But I’ll let you read about that. We follow Jordan as he meets new friends, some exciting challenges, and realizes the importance of not judging a book by its cover.
Author Praise
Jerry Craft makes this story so animated, not literally, but it looks enjoyable! It’s very fun to read and relate to Jordan because I’ve been in a situation where I was the new kid.
Also, the moral or the message Jerry is trying to give is very important for readers to understand, and I give him kudos for that!
Basic Facts
- The book is 256 pages long
- There are 14 chapters, though there is no table of contents
- This book was the first and only, at the moment, graphics novel to win a John Newberry Award! Isn’t that crazy?
- The author is Jerry Craft
- The publishing brand is Harper Collins
What is My Rating?
If I had to rate this book out of five, it would be a solid 5. I really like the message and the characters Jerry makes in try story. It’s funny and super enjoyable to read.
The art is lively and super colorful. It’s overall a great story to read about and learn from. I really enjoyed this book. And that’s why I’m giving it a 5-star rating!
Would I Recommend?
If I had to recommend this book, I would be happy to! It’s a quick read, for me, and j think it’s worth it to read.
As I’ve mentioned, it’s funny, relatable, lively, and can teach a great lesson! Totally recommend a lot of my friends who are interested in books because it’s a great read.
Highlights Segment
Time for the highlights time! There actually won’t be any spoilers this time so go ahead and enjoy spoiler free!
- I overall really enjoyed how Jerry added little segments where Jordan would sketch out a page where Jordan would be explaining things, for example, the handshake, the dude pyramid, and so much more!
- The humor is super great in this book and I love it so much. It really addresses the problem of stereotypes in a fun and enjoyable way for people to really understand it. Especially from Jordan’s point of view as a person of color.
- I love the friendship Drew and Jordan have, they have a lot in common and can relate to one another which shows that even when you don’t think you fit in, there’s someone that can make you feel better.
Character Thoughts
Finally, character thoughts! My favorite! As you may have heard, this books main topic is about stereotypes and judging people by there looks. Along with bullying.
So we have a variety of characters in this book that do different things. We can tell Andy is that kind of bully that jokes around and thinks that he’s being funny, but is really hurting people’s feelings.
At the moment, I can’t really give a character that is my least favorite, (yes, Andy is mean but not my least favorite) but I can say that Jordan is a great character.
He has flaws, yes, but he has some great personality traits that are important for a realistic character.
Also, little honorable mention for Alexandra because she did play a good role in the book.
Thank You For Listening!
I hope you enjoyed. This graphic novel was great to review in this week’s episode! So, I hope you take the time to check it out. Alrighty, here’s the end of our episode!