Awards

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book celebrates outstanding books, authors, and literary achievement through four signature awards: The Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Best Books for Family Literacy, The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, and Pennsylvania Great Reads from Great Places. Together, these programs recognize excellence in family literacy, children’s poetry, graphic novels, and books that reflect Pennsylvania’s rich literary heritage. By honoring exceptional literary works and connecting readers with engaging and meaningful stories, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book promotes lifelong reading, literacy, and a love of literature across the Commonwealth and beyond.

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New Kid

By Jerry Craft

Published by Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2019

Adult Readers

Pennsylvania Center for the Book Awards

Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize 2020 Honor Book

"Craft presents a nuanced representation of an African-American boy by moving away from a reductive black-white binary that essentializes African American experiences. As we travel with Jordan through the different spaces in his life—from his home in the city to his new private [middle] school and to the homes of his new friends—we can perceive a subtle critique on class, race, privilege and access. Craft knows how to 'show, not tell,' and uses the visual aspect of the graphic novel not only to deliver well-placed gags, but also to illustrate how prejudice can be grounded in the visual and to reveal how toxic our ways of 'reading the other' can be."

Hear Jerry Craft discuss "New Kid" at the 2020 LOC National Book Fest!