New Kid

 Joshua Singh

I enjoyed reading New Kid by Jerry Craft, and I particularly resonated with being seen as “different” than others in a private school. I went to public school before going to a private high-school. The culture shock that Jordan experiences is similar to the one I did back in 9th grade. I find Craft’s use of incongruity theory and absurdity to critique private-school culture witty and clever. One of my favorite moments in the book is when Jordan first arrives at the school and sees that everyone is stuck up and pompous. He then sees Maury as an angelic figure, as Maury seems like an actual decent person. However, Maury is made fun of and called an Oreo because he is “White on the inside, Black on the outside” (Craft 26). My high-school’s students were predominately white, so I can relate to Jordan experiencing the refreshing sight of a fellow minority. 

I can relate to how awkward the conversation was with his dad after he tells him about his first day of school. His father asks him, “So, how was the…you know…” and Jordan replies, “Diversity? Not great. But better than we thought. A few of us in each grade” (Craft 48). I find these conversations and awkward approaches to the truth about diversity in private schools hilarious because I came from a very ethnically diverse middle-school before going to high-school. I, too, had to tell my dad as politely as possible that I was the only Asian person (more often than not the only non-white person) in a classroom during my first couple of days of high-school. The relatability in this book is what really drives the humorous subtle critiques of private school that Craft presents through Jordan’s dialogue with his parents and friends. 

One of the funniest moments I found in the entire book was when Jordan’s classmates kept mixing up Drew and him just because they were both Black and in the same class. I recalled one time this happened to me as I was reading this. I was in European history when everyone kept calling me Jorge (who was a Hispanic boy in the all-White class), and everyone kept calling Jorge Josh. We just went along with it until everyone realized they got our names wrong. Craft’s representation of moments like these, which reveal the underhanded discrimination through subtle micro-aggressions, critiques private school culture. I find his critiques humorous as they are lighthearted in nature but express a valuable message about being new in a private school. 

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