Summary and Thoughts on Class Act by Jerry Craft

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    Class Act, the sequel to New Kid, gives the points of view of 8th grader Drew Ellis, and Jordan Banks trying to navigate their way through a prestigious school full of rich privileged kids. They are both there on financial aid, and are seen differently because of this through the multiple microaggressions that happen daily. The first book outlined the life of Jordan Banks, who was the new kid at the same school that Drew went to. On page 53, a line in Jordan’s notebook says, “Of all the people in the world, the one who’s most like me is my friend Drew. It’s the world that makes us different.” Drew is seen differently at the school because his skin is darker than Jordan’s, but at the same time, Jordan is seen differently in his neighborhood because he looks “whiter.”


I have heard of this book series many times, but have never gotten around to reading it. When I saw these books, I knew I had to read them.  I love how the author makes this book feel as if the characters are talking to each other right in front of you. You can feel the frustration and feeling when someone says or acts so blatantly racist, and everyone around them doesn’t seem to even notice or care. An example of this is when a teacher named Mr. Roche began a sister program with another school called Cardi De Academy. He specifically goes up to Drew, and not Jordan to be an ambassador for the other school because the kids “looked more like him.” The teacher just continued on, without even thinking about what he was saying, and it seemed like he didn’t even know that Drew was bothered by this. Even as a reader, it felt so frustrating the amount of times assumptions like this are made throughout Class Act. 


Overall, I enjoyed the true friendships made between the characters, and how they were able to overcome many assumptions imposed from others. On a different note, I also liked the incredible drawing skills of the author and illustrator Jerry Craft. Once I began to read this series, I just couldn’t stop until the end, and it was a great book!

~Lucas Tosi~

Comments

  1. mirandaNovember 10, 2023 at 7:17 AM

    I had heard of New Kid but I never knew there was a sequel. This review was very well thought out and interesting! I will have to read New Kid before I read this one, but I will have to check it out!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ElliotthegreatDecember 7, 2023 at 6:58 PM

    I just recently finished the New Kid and I had no idea there was a continuation of it. The original book was interesting so it would be nice to read it through the view of a different character.

    ReplyDelete

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