In 'New Kid,' a Black seventh grader navigates a new school

NPR's Book of the Day

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Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 3 October 2023

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

Jordan Banks, the protagonist of New Kid, is a seventh grade student who loves to draw and hopes to one day become a cartoonist. But the graphic novel following Jordan's arrival at a predominantly white, elite, private school has been challenged numerous times in the state of Texas by people claiming it promotes critical race theory. In today's episode, author Jerry Craft tells NPR's A Martinez how those challenges were often presented by parents who had not truly engaged with the material – and why it's crucial for him to tell coming-of-age stories for Black kids that don't involve catastrophe.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. We're continuing our series this week,
0:06.7	airing conversations with authors of books that have been banned and challenged in some places in the U.S.
0:12.1	You probably know the stats, but just in case, Pan America, the Freedom of Speech Advocacy Group,
0:16.4	found that 2022 was a big year for book bannings, many of them taking place in Texas. Jerry Kraft's graphic
0:23.3	novel, New Kid, was one of those books that was challenged in Texas. And like a lot of challenged
0:28.1	books, his touches on race and racism. And Kraft tells NPR's A. Martinez this really
0:33.9	frustrating story about how his book was challenged and his school visit was canceled.
0:38.5	The call was reversed, but by then, the damage was done.
0:43.1	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:47.9	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sourcesources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground
0:55.7	bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:02.1	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:07.2	In the graphic novel, New Kid, writer and cartoonist Jerry Kraft tells a story of black seventh grader Jordan Banks.
1:14.4	He's the new kid, finding his way at an elite private school that's predominantly white.
1:19.3	New Kid has received numerous honors.
1:21.3	It has also been challenged in a Texas school district with a parent complaining that the content promotes critical race theory or,
1:27.5	in other words, calls out institutional racism. Craft hopes readers see themselves in his books,
1:33.6	New Kid, and Class Act. He told me that his character, Jordan Banks, is partly based on himself.
1:39.3	He loves, loves to draw, as did I. He wanted to go to art school, as did I. His mom and dad
1:46.7	didn't want him to go to art school because the only turn that they had ever heard, like my
1:50.7	parents, with artists, was starving, starving artists. So they sent him to the prestigious
1:56.3	Riverdale Academy Day School, where they think that he can get an education, get a real job,
	...

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