New Kid
Jerry Craft (2019)
“A seventh-grader learns to survive a mostly-white private school without losing who he is — and draws his way through it.”
Essay Questions & Food for Thought
30questions designed to challenge assumptions and provoke original thinking. These can't be answered from a summary — you need the actual text.
Jordan's sketchbook is described as a place where he can 'say anything.' Why can't he say those things out loud? What does the book suggest about who gets to speak freely at RAD — and who doesn't?
Mr. Roche calls Jordan 'Drew' repeatedly, even after Jordan corrects him. Mr. Roche is not trying to be cruel. Does his intention matter? Why or why not?
Compare Jordan's two worlds — Washington Heights and RAD — using Craft's visual choices (panel size, color, border style). What is Craft saying through the images that he doesn't say in words?
Drew and Jordan both navigate RAD as Black students, but they navigate it differently. Whose approach does the book favor? Is one approach right?
Jordan's mother attended a school like RAD when she was young. How does this shape the choice she makes for Jordan? Do you think she's right?
What does it mean to code-switch? Can you think of a time when you've code-switched — used different language or behavior in different settings? How is Jordan's version different?
Liam is kind but oblivious. Is being kind enough? What does the book suggest Liam would have to do differently to be a true ally — not just a friend?
Jordan draws a superhero alter ego called 'Jordo' in his sketchbook. What does Jordo represent? How is Jordo different from the Jordan who attends RAD?
The book is a graphic novel — it tells its story in images and words together. Could this story have been told in a traditional prose novel? What would be lost?
New Kid has been challenged and removed from school libraries by parents who say it makes white children 'feel bad.' Do you think the book is trying to make white readers feel bad? What is it actually trying to do?
By the end of the book, Jordan says 'I'm not two Jordans. I'm just Jordan — and Jordan's a lot.' What does he mean? Is this a resolution or a compromise?
Why does Jordan's hair being touched by a classmate matter? The classmate says it was a compliment. What is actually happening in that moment?
Compare the visual style of Washington Heights panels to RAD panels. What specific choices (color, line, panel size) communicate the emotional difference? Find three specific examples.
Jordan's mother and father have very different attitudes toward RAD and what it represents. Whose perspective do you find more convincing? Can both of them be right?
Mr. Garland (the librarian) and Mr. Roche (the art teacher) both mistake Jordan for another Black student. Both apologize. Are their mistakes the same? Is one worse than the other?
By the end of the year, Jordan's sketchbook is full. What does that mean? Is it a sign of success, survival, loss, or all three?
New Kid is classified as a middle-grade book, but it deals with racism, class inequality, and institutional failure. Should books for young people avoid difficult subjects? What does the book's existence argue?
Jordan never gets angry out loud in the entire book. He never yells at Mr. Roche, never confronts the student who touched his hair, never storms out of class. Is his restraint strength or suppression?
The book's title is 'New Kid' — but by the end of the year, Jordan isn't new anymore. What does 'new kid' still mean at the end of the book? Has anything changed?
Craft draws Jordan literally bigger on the page in the book's final chapter than in its first. Find a panel from chapter 1 and a panel from chapter 8 showing Jordan. What has changed?
Alexandra is Latina and also an outsider at RAD. How is her experience similar to Jordan's? How is it different? Does the book give her enough space?
The name 'Riverdale Academy Day School' abbreviates to RAD — a word that means cool. Do you think this is intentional? What might Craft be saying with that acronym?
New Kid won the Newbery Medal in 2020 — the first graphic novel ever to do so. Why does it matter that this award went to a graphic novel? What does it say about how we've defined 'serious literature'?
Compare Jordan's use of art to Jordan's use of words. When does he choose drawing over speaking? What does he trust the drawing to do that words can't?
Jordan's parents enroll him at RAD because they believe it will give him better opportunities. By the end of the book, do you think they made the right decision? What evidence supports your answer?
The microaggression chapter is structured as many short incidents rather than one long scene. Why does Craft make this structural choice? How does it change the experience of reading it?
Jordan directly addresses Mr. Roche about the name pattern only at the very end of the year. Why does he wait so long? What makes it possible for him to do it then and not earlier?
Craft has said that he wrote the book he needed as a kid but didn't have. What does he mean? If Jordan had read New Kid in fifth grade, what might it have given him?
How does New Kid represent friendship between people from different backgrounds? Is Liam and Jordan's friendship realistic? Does it suggest that cross-race, cross-class friendship is possible — and under what conditions?
The final panel of New Kid shows Jordan grinning at something he's just drawn, but we don't see what it is. Why does Craft choose to end this way? What might Jordan be drawing — and why does it matter that we don't know?