Hana Jaffe-Walt

I learned about this particular banned book from Deborah Caldwell Stone. She's a director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. Her job is to track efforts to censor and ban books. And she was telling me she's never seen anything like this fall before. In her decades on the job, just the number of books being challenged, removed from school library shelves.

I learned about this particular banned book from Deborah Caldwell Stone. She's a director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. Her job is to track efforts to censor and ban books. And she was telling me she's never seen anything like this fall before. In her decades on the job, just the number of books being challenged, removed from school library shelves.

Many books about LGBTQ people, she says those have been contested for years. But more recently, Toni Morrison, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, The Hate U Give, a novel about the aftermath of police brutality.

Many books about LGBTQ people, she says those have been contested for years. But more recently, Toni Morrison, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, The Hate U Give, a novel about the aftermath of police brutality.

Yeah, like comic book, the graphic novel? Yes, New Kid. New Kid is a book my children read. It's about a 12-year-old black boy who goes to a new school.

Yeah, like comic book, the graphic novel? Yes, New Kid. New Kid is a book my children read. It's about a 12-year-old black boy who goes to a new school.

Wow. Jerry Craft has been invited to speak to thousands of schools over the years to do author presentations like the one in Katy, Texas, because New Kid was widely acclaimed. It won a ton of awards. It was a number one New York Times bestseller, translated into a dozen languages. New Kid is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel about a boy, Jordan, who wants to be an artist and go to art school.

Wow. Jerry Craft has been invited to speak to thousands of schools over the years to do author presentations like the one in Katy, Texas, because New Kid was widely acclaimed. It won a ton of awards. It was a number one New York Times bestseller, translated into a dozen languages. New Kid is a semi-autobiographical graphic novel about a boy, Jordan, who wants to be an artist and go to art school.

But his parents put him in a fancy private school. Jordan is one of only a few Black kids. A lot of the kids are wealthy. The campus is vast. And you watch Jordan, this funny, earnest kid, navigate a new environment. There's culture shock. There's new friendships. It's part fish-out-of-water story and part just kid in middle school figuring out crushes in the cafeteria.

But his parents put him in a fancy private school. Jordan is one of only a few Black kids. A lot of the kids are wealthy. The campus is vast. And you watch Jordan, this funny, earnest kid, navigate a new environment. There's culture shock. There's new friendships. It's part fish-out-of-water story and part just kid in middle school figuring out crushes in the cafeteria.

And things like, should he do sports or the musical? Jerry Craft told me when he put New Kid out there, the response was amazing. Everything. It was all like a great big hug from the world. People wrote him to say, my kid wants to be an artist now. My kid loved your book.

And things like, should he do sports or the musical? Jerry Craft told me when he put New Kid out there, the response was amazing. Everything. It was all like a great big hug from the world. People wrote him to say, my kid wants to be an artist now. My kid loved your book.

Right, exactly. Love and admiration. Right.

Right, exactly. Love and admiration. Right.

No!

No!

This is not his thing. Controversy. Jerry was a kid who loved to draw, who became an adult who kept drawing. He spends most of his time in a room by himself making pictures. When he published New Kid in 2019, Jerry had been writing comics for decades. This was the book he'd always wanted to write. The book he wished he'd had as a kid. With a Black character who seemed just regular.

This is not his thing. Controversy. Jerry was a kid who loved to draw, who became an adult who kept drawing. He spends most of his time in a room by himself making pictures. When he published New Kid in 2019, Jerry had been writing comics for decades. This was the book he'd always wanted to write. The book he wished he'd had as a kid. With a Black character who seemed just regular.

Jerry says he remembers going to the library as a kid, and it was always the general books and the black books.

Jerry says he remembers going to the library as a kid, and it was always the general books and the black books.