New Kid Essay Questions

Why is it significant that teachers and students at RAD often call Jordan and Drew by the wrong name?

The fact that faculty and students at RAD often call Drew and Jordan by the names of other Black students is significant because the motif is exemplary of the major theme of racial microaggressions. Even though Jordan and Maury don't look alike, Jordan finds that people at his new school regularly mistake him for Maury, who has been at RAD since kindergarten. Drew—also new to the school—finds that Ms. Rawle can't break her habit of calling him Deandre, which is the name of a former student whom she dubs "a handful." As the story develops, Drew discovers that Rawle gets his name wrong because of an unconscious prejudice toward Black students; it is not clear whether her prejudice is informed by Deandre's behavior or if it pre-dates Deandre being in her class. Ironically for Drew, the frustration he experiences because of Rawle's persistent unfair focus on him pushes him to act out against her authority. In this way, he becomes the unruly student she profiles him as before she got to know him. With this subtle exploration of racial microaggressions, Craft shows how what may seem like minor mistakes in speech can have a cumulative, insidious effect on marginalized people.

What role does bonding play in New Kid?

Bonding plays a significant role in New Kid as one of the graphic novel's major themes. From the book's outset, Craft depicts Jordan's yearning for connection with other people. His first and most overt attempt is with Maury, a fellow Black first former. However, Jordan discovers that aside from ethnicity, the boys have nothing in common, and his attempt to bond on the basis of shared interests ends in an awkward goodbye. Luckily, Jordan finds common ground with Liam over Xbox Live games they can play simultaneously at their separate homes. Similarly, Jordan bonds with Alex over books they both enjoy. The theme of bonding also arises in Jordan's first conversation with Drew. Having both been at RAD a few months, the boys commiserate and joke with each other about how it feels to be among the few Black students. This instance of bonding forms a foundation on which the boys build a close friendship that also involves more trivial shared interests, like video games. Ultimately, Craft shows over the course of Jordan's first year how he moves from feeling like he is "falling" to feeling as though his new and old friends are keeping him from falling down.

What is the significance of Jordan's sketchbook?

The sketchbook Jordan always keeps at his side or open on the table in front of him is a symbol for creativity and free expression. As a shy and uncertain boy, Jordan rarely speaks his mind in social situations. Rather, he sublimates his frustrations and opinions into his art, drawing comics that satirize his daily life. Although Jordan keeps his drawings to himself, they become an issue for him when Ms. Rawle finds the sketchbook and looks at it without his permission. While Jordan thinks of his drawings as opinions in the vein of editorial cartoons, Rawle's bad-faith interpretation is that they are an attack on everything she and the school stands for. In a coded effort to censor his free expression and curb his creative impulse, Rawle appeals to Jordan to stop being "angry" and to assimilate into the school's culture. Jordan, however, continues to draw in his sketchbook, questioning the world around him in a way that brings him pleasure and helps define his identity.

What is significant about The Mean Streets of South Uptown, the fictitious novel that comes up repeatedly throughout New Kid?

The Mean Streets of South Uptown is significant because it is a symbol of how a lack of true diversity in the mainstream publishing industry leads to condescending books that don't appeal to their target audience. At the RAD book fair, there is a display for "African American Escapist Literature." The covers depict angry and sad young Black men's faces and hint at stories of extreme adversity in hopeless situations. Drew and Jordan breeze past these titles while discussing how they can't find any books that appeal to them anymore. As they walk away, a white teacher tries to push The Mean Streets of South Uptown on Maury, for no reason other than that he is Black like the book's protagonist. However, Maury hands it back, saying that unlike the protagonist, he didn't grow up in poverty without a father and that his own father is CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Craft builds on the irony of The Mean Streets of South Uptown, bringing the novel back in several instances in which no one wants to read it. After having received it from Maury, who got it from his Secret Santa, Drew gives it away to Jordan, who understands the humor of a book that is targeted at his demographic but that has nothing to do with his actual life.

Why is Drew not happy about his Secret Santa gifts?

As a tradition at RAD, each student is assigned to give three gifts to one other student, whose name they select at random. The tradition is supposed to be fun, but Drew is paranoid as the Christmas break approaches because he believes his gifts are deliberate racist provocations. Having dealt with so many microaggressions and provocations, Drew sees his gifts as things stereotypically associated with Black American culture: basketball, fried chicken and having "chocolate" skin. The third gift—a chocolate Santa—tips Drew over the edge, and he sets out to confront Andy for his trolling, bullying behavior. Just before Drew does, Ashley reveals she was his Secret Santa and had plausible, non-prejudiced reasons for thinking he liked basketball, KFC and chocolate. While Drew had it wrong, his reaction to the gifts is significant because it shows how being a marginalized person at a school like RAD involves undue stress.