by Jerry Craft
First published 2019
Jordan Banks clutches his sketchbook as he boards the bus from Washington Heights to Riverdale Academy Day School. The seventh grader dreams of art school, but his parents chose this prestigious private academy instead. Jordan discovers he's among the handful of students of color in his grade. Each day brings fresh challenges as he tries to decode the unwritten rules of his new environment. His cartoon drawings capture the absurdity and pain of feeling like an outsider. Meanwhile, his friendships back in the neighborhood grow strained by his absence and his new experiences. Jordan must figure out how to succeed at Riverdale without losing himself or abandoning the community that shaped him. The pressure mounts as he realizes fitting in might require sacrificing parts of his identity he's not willing to give up.
Genres: family-life, american-fiction, african-american, coming-of-age, contemporary, adolescence
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Washington Heights, Riverdale Academy Day School
Period: 21st-century
249 pages · Hardcover · HarperCollins Children's Books