Class Act by Jerry Craft

Class Act picks up right where New Kid left off, offering insight with humor and great art.

Class Act by Jerry Craft. Quill Tree Books, 2020. 256 pages.

Reading Level: Graphic novel, ages 10 and up

Recommended For: Ages 10 and up (readers in upper middle school will appreciate this most!)

Drew (Jordan’s sidekick in New Kid) enters 8th grade at his elite private school, thrilled to have moved up to second form (7th grade was 1st form). Drew is less than thrilled, though, to see his former arch-nemesis, Andy, in his home room. But friends like Jordan and Liam help make up for it. This year, Liam invites Drew and Jordan over to his house (mansion!). Drew immediately assumes Liam will never want to continue being his friend once Liam sees where Drew lives (for readers who haven’t read New Kid, Liam is white and very rich. Drew is black and definitely not rich.) Instead of giving his friend a chance, Drew retreats from their friendship, leaving Jordan as a go between. Finally, Jordan challenges Drew, “Hey, there’s Liam. When are you guys gonna talk?”

It takes a real friend to speak up and urge someone to do the right thing. Thankfully, Drew is surrounded by genuine friends, even when he’s oblivious. As in New Kid, Class Act is about looking beyond the surface, about getting to know real people instead of stereotypes, be those stereotypes based on skin color, wealth, gender, or other factors. Principal Roche is at it again with his well-intentioned pursuit of anti-racism, little knowing that nearly everything he attempts is a micro-aggression at best (such as “SOCK” — Students of Color Konnect). In the end, he, too, begins to look past the surface and really tries to get to know people.

Craft’s art really enhances his books. The subtleties of navigating life in a middle school when you are a different race/ethnicity than your peers just wouldn’t come through as well in a text-based novel. Craft not only helps readers see the subtle differences between people, but he throws in delightful homages to other graphic novels in his chapter title pages as well as a few Easter eggs of other Black authors and illustrators like Jacqueline Woodson and Kwame Alexander. A visual delight as much as a story delight, Class Act is a terrific follow-up to New Kid, although it lacks some of the punch of the first.

Considerations:

• Definitely take some time to ask your children/students if they’ve witnessed or experienced some of the things Jordan and Drew experience. Ask how we can look past outward appearances and our own assumptions and really get to know the people around us.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

• Worldview/Moral Rating: 4 out of 5
• Literary/Artistic Rating: 4 out of 5

Related Reading From Redeemed Reader

• A Review: New Kid by Jerry Craft (see also our Newbery Buzz discussion of New Kid)
• A Review: The Crossover, Rebound, Swing and Solo, Undefeated, … we’ve reviewed lots of books by Kwame Alexander that are good companions to Jerry Craft’s books
• A Reflection: Are Graphic Novels Literature? (especially appropriate if you read the last few pages of Class Act!)

We are participants in the Amazon LLC affiliate program; purchases you make through affiliate links like the one below may earn us a commission. Read more here.