Summary
It is winter—a season Jordan doesn’t like. People congratulate Drew on his success as the starting quarterback of the football team, making Andy jealous because he thought he should have the position. Andy is also jealous that Drew gets better grades. When the teacher offers to let students go outside, Drew and Jordan stay inside, both thinking thirty degrees is way too cold. Drew says it’s about time they talked. Drew says he’s been there two months and people still don’t really talk to him—it never goes past high fives and saying "good game, bro."
Drew and Jordan bond over the difficulty of being among the few Black students at the elite and mostly white school. It bothers them that people get their names wrong, and that everyone stares whenever topics like slavery, civil rights, and financial aid come up. Drew says he lives with his grandmother and can’t complain to her because her generation never complains. She tells him he needs to get used to being “a fly in the buttermilk” if he is going to be successful. Drew laments the fact that if they weren’t smart, they never would have gotten into the school. And even after proving themselves, others make it tough for them. He says it’s not like they dress weird or use slang others can’t understand or act aggressively. Jordan says he thinks Drew just described Andy.
When the bell rings, they get up. Drew calls Jordan Jerome, and Jordan calls him Demetrius. When Ms. Rawle hears Drew call Jordan “dawg,” she says she doesn’t think it’s nice to call a human being a dog. He explains that they were joking around, but she asks him to apologize to Jordan. He says it would nice if she apologized for always calling him Deandre. He points out that Andy calls people “dawg” all the time, and she says nothing to him. Drew says the only thing he is sorry for is that he ever came to this stupid school. He walks off and Jordan frets over how quickly things escalated.
That night, Jordan plays Xbox, chatting to Drew on his headset. Drew says she deserved it, acting like she’s wonderful and accepting when she isn’t. Jordan apologizes for not defending him, saying he was in shock. Drew says it wasn’t Jordan’s fight. They say goodbye and start on their homework. When Jordan’s parents return from parent-teacher night, his mother reprimands him for getting a C in Spanish. His father sits down to discuss what Ms. Rawle said: that he and Drew don’t associate with the other kids. Jordan says it happened today only, and that’s because it was cold outside. Jordan’s parents tell him what the other teachers said, all of it positive. Chuck then says he got a sense of what Jordan is dealing with at the school: he says he knows it can’t be easy. Jordan’s mother insists that it’s necessary. Jordan’s mother reminds Jordan that she works for one of the largest publishing companies in the world, and that only 48 of their 1,200 employees are African American. She says, “In order to be successful in corporate America, you have to know how to play the game.” Chuck says, “But not everyone can play that game, Ellice. Nor should they have to! That’s why I left that life.” The parents get into an argument in which Ellice reminds Chuck the school will open doors for their son. Chuck insists that if he feels like an outsider, he should have the option to go to art school in ninth grade. Meanwhile, Jordan transforms into a baby over whose head they are arguing.
At school the next day, Jordan tells Alex his parents enjoyed meeting Alex’s parents. Alex’s parents are in Florida, however, and so Jordan is confused. He realizes his parents accidentally befriended Alexandra’s parents and told them how much Jordan likes “Alex.” Meanwhile, Alexandra—the girl with the hand puppet—is delighted Jordan wants to be her friend. Jordan is reluctant, but remembers something his grandfather once said about not being a jerk to people, even if you don’t like them. Drew comes over and asks to speak with Jordan, which upsets Alexandra, and she walks off. Drew sees she is upset and asks if she wants to join them for a walk. She is happy to come along, following as though floating on the ground. She says she isn’t good at sports but is doing set design for the musical. Drew says he bets she’ll do a really good job. They wish each other a good Thanksgiving break. Alexandra thanks them for walking with her.
Jordan’s grandpa comes to visit from where he’s been living in Yonkers. He takes Jordan out for Chinese food near his senior center. Grandpa and Chuck shake hands with “enough handshake force to crush an elephant.” While they eat, Jordan and his grandpa talk about the rich and fancy people at Jordan’s new school. Grandpa says they call him “the new kid” at his senior center. Jordan talks about being friends with both Liam and Drew, but the three of them don’t ever hang out together. His grandpa reminds Jordan he used to only like shrimp lo mein, then General Tso’s and later pepper steak. Now they order all three.
A few days later, Jordan realizes his grandpa was using a metaphor: he tries to get Drew and Liam to be friends with each other by linking the three of them up in an Xbox game where they work together. It goes well for hours, then Jordan is called to the Thanksgiving table. There is turkey, string beans, yams and marshmallows, cornbread, mac and cheese, and collard greens.
In Chapter Eight, Jordan returns to school after the break. Other students discuss the trips their families took to go skiing and snowboarding, or to Hawaii. In homeroom, Ms. Rawle explains how everyone will have a Secret Santa person to whom they must give three gifts. The first two can be anything, but the last must be a purchase under ten dollars. Drew asks if there will be financial aid for the purchase. The question unnerves Jordan, and he is relieved when the bell rings before the teacher can answer. Drew leaves the class pleased with his facetious comment. In the hall, Liam and Jordan ask Drew what he was thinking. Drew says he doesn’t care what Rawle thinks anymore, and that he may as well give her what she expects from him.
The three friends go to the school book fair. Jordan and Drew bond over how they used to love reading, but they see little to interest them anymore. There is a display called African American Escapist Literature. The books all show young Black men and are titled either Escape from Gang Life, Escape from Slavery, Escape from Poverty, or Escape from Prison. An older white teacher picks out books for Alex and Maury. She hands Alex The Magic of Magical Magibon and Maury The Mean Streets of South Uptown, “a gritty tale of survival.” She says he’ll identify with DaQuell, the protagonist, because he suffers so much growing up in poverty without a father. Maury thanks her but hands it back, saying his dad is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She holds the book and thinks to give it to Drew instead.
In a sketch, Jordan explains the difference between mainstream books targeted at kids and those for Black kids. In African American plots, a boy without a father must choose between a gritty life on the streets or pursuing dreams of playing in the NBA. Meanwhile, mainstream books are about magical children whose parents are royals and who go on triumphant quests.
Analysis
In Chapter 6, Craft returns to the themes of bonding and microaggressions. Because the sun is out, Ms. Rawle treats the students of Jordan’s homeroom and lets them go outside. Jordan and Drew don’t like the cold, thinking the other students crazy for wanting to go. Staying inside together, Drew and Jordan bond over the experience of being among the few Black students at RAD. Like Jordan, Drew has picked up on the way people get their names wrong and stare at him when things come up in class that are associated with Black people. Both boys are relieved to confirm they are not alone in their sense of alienation from the greater student body.
During the boys’ conversation, the themes of class difference and academic achievement arise. As Drew comes from a low-income, working-class background, he can only enroll at RAD because he earns good grades and so can collect financial aid to cover tuition. Drew complains that he and Jordan have proved they are smart enough to be at the school, but it isn’t enough; through subtle behavior and comments, people still treat them as though they don’t belong. Having bonded over their experience, Drew and Jordan end the conversation by addressing each other using stereotypical Black names, mocking the way the white people at RAD see them.
The theme of white privilege arises when Ms. Rawle reprimands Drew for calling Jordan “dawg.” Not understanding the context of the conversation or the affectionate nuance of the word, Ms. Rawle believes Drew is calling Jordan a “dog.” Drew stands up for himself, calling out Rawle for both calling him by the wrong name and—less explicitly—for treating him as though he is just as much of a troublemaker as Deandre was. Drew also is correct when he informs Rawle that she never corrects Andy’s behavior when he calls people "dawg." Implicit in Drew’s comment is that Rawle expects Drew, who she conflates with Deandre, to act out, and so she is always looking for an excuse to reprimand him.
Craft returns to the themes of bonding and social hierarchy when Alexandra is excited by the prospect of Jordan wanting to be her friend. In an instance of dramatic irony, Alexandra doesn’t know that Jordan’s parents mistook her parents for Alex’s parents—the parents of the kid Jordan actually enjoys spending time with. The idea that Jordan will become attached to the strangest girl in his grade is worrying: Jordan fears he will become just as much of a social pariah as her. But Drew treats Alexandra with respect and kindness by inviting her to walk with them. The simple gesture of engaging with her as though she isn’t a social pariah goes a long way: to emphasize Alexandra’s happiness at being invited to socialize with someone, Craft draws her levitating over the ground while the boys walk beside her.
Craft again addresses the themes of white privilege and racial microaggressions with the book fair scene. With this satirical scene, Craft pokes fun at the white-dominated American publishing industry, which has a narrow idea of what a Black American experience can be. While Liam and Alex have no trouble finding reading material that interests them, Drew and Jordan bond over how nothing they see is appealing. As they speak, they pass a display of middle-grade “African-American Escapist Literature” targeted at their demographic as Black boys. However, the stories of young Black men overcoming extreme adversity don’t interest them because the stories are far removed from their experience.
In an instance of situational irony, a white teacher believes The Mean Streets of South Uptown will appeal to Maury because he can relate to the fatherless, impoverished protagonist. In fact, M’s family is at least as wealthy as the Landers family, from whom they live down the street. But because he is Black, the teacher assumes Maury must be at the school on financial aid and come from a “broken home.” Jordan shows off his creativity with a comic that explains the difference between books for Black children and books for white children. While the authors of these books expect white children to identify with heroic protagonists in possession of magical powers and a noble lineage, they expect Black children to identify with protagonists who are poor, lack supervision, and must “escape” their circumstances and “struggle” to survive.
