Graphic novel New Kid wins prestigious Newbery Medal

Jerry Craft’s story exploring ‘friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh manner’ is the first graphic novel to win the long-running American children’s award

For the first time, a graphic novel has won the Newbery Medal, the oldest and most prestigious children’s book award in the US. The win places cartoonist Jerry Craft alongside titans of American literature including Madeleine L’Engle, Louis Sachar and Beverly Cleary.

Craft’s graphic novel New Kid follows the life of Jordan Banks, one of the only children of colour at a prestigious private school. Announcing Craft’s win, Newbery committee chair Krishna Grady called it a “distinct and timely story”. “Respectful of its child audience, it explores friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh and often humorous manner … It is, simply put, a ‘distinguished contribution to American literature’,” said Grady, referring to the criteria of the prize, which is given by the Association for Library Service to Children. Established in 1922, the Newbery has gone to titles including L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Sachar’s Holes and Cleary’s Dear Mr Henshaw.

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