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    Class Act
    Class Act
    Class Act
    Audiobook2 hours

    Class Act

    Written by Jerry Craft

    Narrated by Nile Bullock, Jesus Del Orden, Guy Lockard and

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft returns with a companion book to New Kid, winner of the 2020 Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize. The audiobook was a 2020 Audie Awards Finalist for Middle Grade and named an Audible Best Audiobook of the Year.

    This time, it’s Jordan’s friend Drew who takes center stage in another laugh-out-loud funny, powerful, and important story about being one of the few kids of color in a prestigious private school.

    Eighth grader Drew Ellis is no stranger to the saying “You have to work twice as hard to be just as good.” His grandmother has reminded him his entire life. But what if he works ten times as hard and still isn’t afforded the same opportunities that his privileged classmates at the Riverdale Academy Day School take for granted?

    To make matters worse, Drew begins to feel as if his good friend Liam might be one of those privileged kids. He wants to pretend like everything is fine, but it's hard not to withdraw, and even their mutual friend Jordan doesn't know how to keep the group together.

    As the pressures mount, will Drew find a way to bridge the divide so he and his friends can truly accept each other? And most important, will he finally be able to accept himself?

    This original full-cast audio adaptation of the graphic novel is performed by Jesus Del Orden, Nile Bullock, Guy Lockard, Robin Miles, Peyton Lusk, Marc Thompson, Rebecca Soler, Dan Bittner, January LaVoy, Phoebe Strole, Jordan Cobb, Ron Butler, A.J Beckles, Miles J. Harvey, Kim Mai Guest, Kyla Garcia, and Soneela Nankani.

    New Kid, the first graphic novel to win the Newbery Medal, is now joined by Jerry Craft's powerful Class Act.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJan 5, 2021
    ISBN9780063032057
    Class Act
    Author

    Jerry Craft

    Jerry Craft is the author-illustrator of #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novels New Kid and its companion book, Class Act. New Kid was the first book in history to win the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. In his latest book, School Trip, Jerry hopes to share his love of travel in order to inspire kids and their families to see the world and embrace new cultures. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts and now lives in Florida. 

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    Reviews for Class Act

    4.5/5

    146 ratings14 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Great book. Listened with my 12 year old. Love it
    • 5/5
      This book was really good and it was super entertaining!
    • 5/5
      This book is as wonderful as the first book. Some of the teachers get on my nerves, but the lessons the students are learning are good. I hope the next book focuses on Andy learning more about why the things he is doing are wrong.
    • 3/5
      I wish I liked this more than I did -- it's got the same solid bones as New Kid, and in a lot of ways, I think that's the problem -- it's just a little too similar. Drew is constantly referring back to the events of the previous year, and while there are some important new adventures -- Andy dyeing himself green, for instance, and you get a little more insight into Drew's background, it just feels like he never quite trusts us enough to be himself in the book. Maybe that's the point? But New Kid rang truer to me.
    • 3/5
      A sequel to New Kid although this one focuses more on Drew than Jordan. The focus here is very much on race and socioeconomics, it’s the book’s greatest asset that it may start conversations and/or get readers to look at their own behavior.The flipside of the book and Drew dwelling so much on such important subject matter is that to some degree like the pop culture this graphic novel ridicules there maybe could have been a few more scenes of joy and fun sprinkled throughout.
    • 4/5
      children's middlegrade graphic novel (companion/sequel to New Kid; humor) - Drew and his friends return to 8th grade at a mostly-white and affluent school in the Bronx.
    • 5/5
      I picked this up because it was about classmates in a prestigious NYC school. I didn't even realize that it was part of a series OR that it was a cool graphic novel!I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was funny, heartfelt and REAL. Having the graphic novel break into sidebar graphic novels which pay homage to the styles of various other juvenile fiction works was really neat as well.Now, I've got to go back and read the award winning first book of the series, New Kid!
    • 5/5
      Why Read It: Class Act should appeal to any kid in middle school. It is a fun and engaging read to help them survive middle school. It also confronts issues of systemic racism head on. It is also a great way for parents to look at the issues their kids may be facing, and would be a great book to discuss at home.
    • 3/5
      A weighty and introspective sequel to the Newbery-winning "New Kid." This focuses on Drew's perspective. He feels the weight of being a dark-skinned Black boy of modest means at a wealthy private school. Colorism, microaggressions, and the stark contrast to Liam's well-heeled life have Drew feeling invisible and isolated as he struggles to find his place in a privileged world. The scene with the cop pulling over Jordan's dad hits hard and real and is probably the most important scene in the book for young readers of all backgrounds to see.
    • 4/5
      Drew is a straight-A student starting eighth grade at a prestigious private school, and he's got some learning to do about acceptance this year: acceptance of his friends and of himself in Class Act by author Jerry Craft.After being rather blown away by the utter graphic-novel awesomeness that is New Kid by Craft, there was pretty much no way I wasn't going to read this following middle grade novel.Like its predecessor, this humorous story (with lots of Easter eggs and background jokes and perks!) has a way of pausing to punch you in the gut at times with something other than belly laughs. I cracked up here, *gulped* there, and cringed pretty hard at some of the intensely awkward moments with well-intentioned characters who've got little to no idea how seriously they're putting their foot in it.Also like the book that comes before it, this story examines the ways that people (especially children/adolescents) of different colors and classes treat each other, weaving it into some of the everyday joys and trials of friendship, family, and growing up. However, I found myself getting emotionally lost at times, not getting the best sense of plot or focus in the story.Still, the main point comes across by the end, and there's certainly room for another novel if these characters need a revisit. I'd highly recommend reading New Kid first, if you haven't.
    • 5/5
      Jordan Banks and his friend Drew Ellis navigate eighth grade in this companion to New Kid, which explores Drew's experiences having to work hard and not feeling comfortable admitting he likes basketball to his mostly white and privileged schoolmates. Then when their friend Liam invites them over, Drew has to decide if he can be friends with someone whose life is so different from his own.Like New Kid, this graphic novel explores race and class in a way that makes you think but is also totally accessible to kids. It illustrates the experiences of a wide range of students and helps you see and sympathize with them, but at the same time is an upbeat and hopeful story about friendship. Recommended to anyone - not just kids - who like a good story.
    • 4/5
      Jordan Banks returns in Class Act. it’s a new school year at the elite Riverdale nAcademy Day School. (RAD) Jordan is now an eighth grader and terribly concerned that his middle school stinky genes have yet to kick in.And he hasn’t had his growth spurt but finds he can be big in other forms.Unlike New Kid, this sequel offers the perspectives of not just Jordan, but also his best friend, Drew, and his wealthy White friend, Liam. As Jordan navigates what may be his last year at RAD before transferring to art school, he frequently compares his experiences with Drew’s: Both boys are Black, but Drew is taller, more athletic, and has darker skin. Drew also has grown out his hair over the summer and it attracts unwanted touching from non-Black kids. This story focuses on how differently RAD students and teachers treat light-skinned Jordan and dark-skinned Drew and also how middle-class Jordan, working-class Drew, and rich-kid Liam negotiate a friendship of mutual respect and care. RAD administrators and teachers have also realized that they need to work on diversity, equity, and inclusion. I enjoyed Jordan’s cartoon “intermissions,” which are black-and-white pencil sketches throughout the book. They particularly capture his imagination and help to convey perceptive observations about race and class that we are all familiar with. Each chapter’s title page textually and illustratively reminds the reader of other popular graphic works for young readers. Examples... Sketch Diary of a Shrimpy Kid and The Adventures of Captain Undertones Now in Fool Color.Another well written novel accompanied by visually rich drawings and truth-telling words for our troubled times that affirms the eternal importance of friends. See author’s note. Jerry Craft begins his sequel with...Be kind, Be fair, Be you (Graphic fiction. 9-14)
    • 5/5
      Craft presents a variety of issues that face preteens in a very realistic manner that opens eyes and entertains.
    • 2/5
      As with New Kid, Banks does a great job of drawing attention to the everyday racism and microaggressions his characters experience and how they try to process it. But the story is unfocused as it meanders from day to day through the school year, introducing dozens of characters who don't really do much of anything beyond saying hello. By the time things began to happen in the final pages, I was unfortunately too bored and disconnected to feel much of anything.In New Kid, the chapter breaks paid homage to movies. I prefer this time around that Craft pays tribute to fellow middle school graphic novels like Hereville and This Was Our Pact.The art is fine but has a strange clip-art feel to it, with frequent digital copying and pasting of characters. I've never had food give me the uncanny valley vibe before like the pie and mac 'n' cheese do here.I still would like to see a third volume, if only to see that horrible teacher Timothy Roche get some sort of comeuppance or telling off.