New Kid

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2019

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-10

Chapters 11-14

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Jordan’s Sketchbook

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).

Jordan is defensive about his art and only shows it to sympathetic viewers like his friends, his father, and Gran’pa. He even minimizes his drawing on the bus, especially in Riverdale, where passengers may think he’s a graffiti artist. The climax of Jordan’s story is when Ms. Rawle discovers his sketchbook and confronts him about his so-called anger. Jordan finds the courage to defend his work as editorial cartoons that are critical but not angry. The encounter leaves him a more self-assured person, and he soon receives a pleasant surprise when his abstract art becomes the yearbook cover, earning him praise from his classmates.

Jordan’s Sweatshirt

Jordan wears his hooded sweatshirt through most of New Kid both for the practical reason—it’s cold—and the symbolic chill he feels at school. He also changes the way he wears it on the bus as he drives through different neighborhoods; he needs to look intimidating in Washington Heights but friendly in Riverdale. This relates to real-world events as people often treat Black children and teenagers in hoodies as potential criminals; the killing of Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch member after leaving the store in a hoodie became an early rallying point for the Black Lives Matter movement. In the final chapter, Jordan goes to school without his sweatshirt as a symbol of his newfound confidence and friendships.

Cherubs

When Jordan doesn’t have a sketchbook on him, Craft uses cherubs—baby angels—to depict his immediate emotions. People usually associate cherubs with Cupid and love, and there is a scene where the cherubs appear with bows and arrows when Jordan worries about a potential romance with Alexandra. But cherubs also represent childhood innocence, an apt allusion as Jordan navigates through RAD with good intentions. They can be mischievous as well. When Jordan asks Ms. Rawle if she would teach in his neighborhood, a cherub does the contemporary mic drop to show that he left her speechless.

Hand Puppets

Alexandra always wears hand puppets and often speaks through them. One of them is a happier version of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, which Jordan resents as he believes Oscar is grouchy because no one ever helps him. The real reason Alexandra wears the puppet is because she wants to hide a scar on her hand that she sports from saving her brother from boiling water. She uses the puppets to literally hide her insecurities, and to distract even further, she adopts an intentionally annoying personality. Jordan’s willingness to help Alexandra and convince others that she is a hero is part of his character growth, and Alexandra gives him the Oscar puppet as an end-of-year gift.

Video Games

New Kid focuses on the positive benefits of gaming; for instance, Jordan’s Xbox lets him introduce his friends in an equal and neutral environment. He arranges an online session with Liam and Drew, two kids from very different worlds, before having them meet in person. Jordan also plays games with his old friend Kirk.

Gaming is also another way to support the social class themes of the novel. Playing video games is an expensive hobby, so Jordan’s father often buys older sports games after they have dropped in value, while Liam can get any game he wants, whenever he wants. Jordan’s parents gifting him the latest NBA2K is presented as special, even though he already got the pricey limited edition from Liam, because they put in the extra money to get it for him.

Superheroes

Superheroes are appealing to kids like Jordan because of their courage and abilities. At first, Jordan wishes that he could be Superman “so instead of falling, I could fly” (1). But he later sees it as unrealistic. He begins to imitate Batman on the streets and notes in his sketchbook that, in addition to being strong and wealthy, the Dark Knight has control over his life and looks out for the little guy. Black Panther, The Flash, Wolverine, and Dragon Ball Z’s Goku also receive mention.

In the fight between Drew and Andy, Craft depicts Jordan falling through space before gaining confidence and changing into his own form of superhero.