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The temporary banning of Jerry Craft’s award-winning graphic novel, New Kid, in Texas schools has led to renewed interest in his work.
A parent-directed review that saw a Texas school district pull Jerry Craft’s graphic novel, New Kid, from school libraries had the opposite of its intended effect, as the book was returned to schools after a 10-day review period and the attention from the attempt to pull the novel led to an increase in sales of the book.
Released in 2019, New Kid was the first graphic novel to be awarded the Newberry Medal and was followed by a sequel, Class Act, last year. The books are about Jordan Banks, an African-American boy dealing with culture shock when he starts attending a prestigious private school with very few other students of color (one of the other African-American students at the school, Dale Ellis, is the star of the sequel). Last month, a parent asked the Katy Independent School District to remove the book as the parent claimed that the book had “harmful content about critical race theory,” as reported by Houston Chronicle.
After the book was pulled for 10 days, the school district returned it to shelves, noting, “Earlier this week, the review committee met and determined the appropriateness of the book, New Kid. The reading material is already back on District library shelves and the virtual author visit is scheduled to take place on October 25 as part of the instructional day.”
As it turns out, the controversy has been a boon for the book’s sales. Craft explained, “I don’t think that the people that banned it actually read the book. What has happened is so many places have sold so many copies because now people want to see what all the hubbub is. They get it and they write to me and they’re almost disappointed because there’s no big thing that they were looking for.”
One Houston parent, Marty Troyer, wrote about his children’s reaction to one of Craft’s books, a favorite author of theirs, being pulled. “I hope my kids have a better understanding of the subtle and systemic ways that race works in America,” said Troyer. “Racism isn’t something just about bad people doing bad racist things, it’s something that impacts every area of life and people knowingly and unknowingly do things that are racist. We’re all swept up in it, and need to make intentional choices to interrupt racism. That’s why it’s important to learn critical thinking and read authors of color.”
Four of Craft’s books have also turned up on a list of 850 books that Texas State Representative Matt Krause is asking to be investigated to see if they violate House Bill 3979, Texas’ critical race theory law. Perhaps this new controversy will also lead more people to want to read Craft’s award-winning books.
Source: Houston Chronicle
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