Jerry Craft is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. In 2020, New Kid became the only graphic novel in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature, and it won the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer. Jerry was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City. https://jerrycraft.com
Q: You’ve said you liked to draw but not read as a child, and that you create the books you wish had existed then. Tell us briefly about yourself as a kid, and why you connected with the notion of writing graphic novels for kids.
A: I was a lot like Jordan Banks in New Kid. I looked like him. I was smaller than my friends. Younger than a lot of my friends. AndI didn’t look like most of them because they were taller with darker skin and afros, and I was smaller, and lighter, with straight hair. And although I wasn’t an only child like Jordan (my sister and brother were nine and ten years older than me), at times I felt like one. And I always loved to draw and make comics. So this really is a dream come true. Especially when I hear from teachers and parents that New Kid is a book that their kid has read multiple times even though they thought they hated to read. I was that kid, so it means a lot!
Q: Please talk about boys versus girls when it comes to a comfort with reading in general, and graphic novels in particular.
A: Unlike my sons when they were younger, I never discussed books with my friends when I was a kid. So I’m a bit envious that I didn’t have a “Wimpy Kid” or RainaTelgemeier or Amulet to make me a reader as a kid. I was literally a grown man before I learned what I was missing. It seems as if more girls are readers, but that is probably because more books feature female protagonists. So as adults, we have to do a better job of not classifying a book as a “girl book” or a “boy book.”
Q: Your books and work have embraced a number of important topics, including bullying, diabetes, childhood obesity, teenage pregnancy and the importance of a good education. Why tackle such issues rather than just spinning out amusing books? And have you had feedback from kids or parents as to the influence these have had?
A: When I was a kid, it seemed like most of the shows I watched had some sort of learning component. From Fat Albert to Schoolhouse Rock, kids learned alot while being entertained. So I don’t know any other way to be. I love educating while also making a kid laugh. Or being a so-called “reluctant reader’s” first book love. I’ve also been told by teachers that they have seen kids break down and sob because they have never seen themselves represented in a book before New Kid and Class Act. That gives me goosebumps.
And when a school in upstate New York read The Offenders: Saving the World While Serving Detention! (a book I wrote with my sons when they were in middle school), their reported bullying-related incidents decreased by more than a third. Now that shows the power of reading!
Q: What’s a day in the life of Jerry Craft like, and are you still having fun?
A: I love what I do--I just can no longer do it all in one day the way I used to. I still try to personally respond to everyone who reaches out to me on social media. I do a ton of school visits via Zoom from Chicago to China, sometimes up to four in one day. I have planning conversations about the New Kid live-action movie. I talk about upcoming New Kid swag (like a jigsaw puzzle and a Jordan Banks sketchbook). Answer email. And, oh yeah, I’m working on New Kid 3. Sometimes, when I remember, I even get to eat. 😊
Q: You’ve won the African American Literary Award five times and are cofounder of the Schomburg Center’s Annual Black Comic Book Festival. As a significant role model for African American kids, talk about what you’d like to achieve with that influence.
A: I’d like to open up dreams to include a lot more than just sports and music. It doesn’t have to be writing or cartooning, but anything that can unleash a kid’s genius! You never know where the next Jackie Woodson, Kwame Alexander or Jason Reynolds will come from. But we need every single one of them. If a former reluctant reader such as myself can win a Newbery Medal, the sky is the limit for any kid with a dream.
Q: Your books are middle-grade and yet also ageless. Why have you targeted middle grade in particular?
A: I really enjoy middlegrade, because I love the remaining innocence of that age. I like happy stories when heroes still come out on top. And stories that don’t revolve around misery. So for now I think I’ll focus on that age or younger. But I also loved taking my sons to see movies like Shrek when they were little. They would laugh hysterically at some parts, and I’d laugh just as hard at others. So I try to make my books as entertaining for older readers as I do for kids.