New Kid

Jordan’s chief tool for coping with his struggles is his sketchbook. While Jerry Craft regularly incorporates dreams and visual metaphors into New Kid, Jordan’s sketchbook offers the best glimpses into the protagonist’s views of a complicated society.

Jordan’s sketches are two-page comics that use a simple black-and-white cartoon format. Some are instructional guides for things he doesn’t quite understand, such as how to perform a handshake. Others are diary-like entries that cover information and time at a faster pace, such as the way his soccer story explains how he learns the rules from a video game, what the different skill divisions are, and how he becomes team captain largely by default. One even takes the form of a public service announcement starring Oprah Winfrey.

While Jordan is anxious in person, his sketches reveal an open, sharp, and humorous personality; the first is a double-page spread that depicts the first day of school as a monster movie. He criticizes his mother’s camera habits, his father’s efforts to save his soul, and the absence of adventure books with Black protagonists. While Drew reacts to Ms. Rawle’s casual racism by talking back to her, Jordan draws about how her frequent misnaming of Black students is worse than an insult because it shows she sees them as “insignificant” (218).