Jerry Craft´s story exploring `friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh manner´ is the first graphic novel to win the long-running American children´s awardFor the first time, a graphic novel has won the Newbery Medal, the oldest and most prestigious children´s book award in the US. The win places cartoonist Jerry Craft alongside titans of American literature including Madeleine L´Engle, Louis Sachar and Beverly Cleary.Craft´s graphic novel New Kid follows the life of Jordan Banks, one of the only children of colour at a prestigious private school. Announcing Craft´s win, Newbery committee chair Krishna Grady called it a `distinct and timely story`. `Respectful of its child audience, it explores friendship, race, class and bullying in a fresh and often humorous manner ... It is, simply put, a `distinguished contribution to American literature´,` said Grady, referring to the criteria of the prize, which is given by the Association for Library Service to Children. Established in 1922, the Newbery has gone to titles including L´Engle´s A Wrinkle in Time, Sachar´s Holes and Cleary´s Dear Mr Henshaw. Continue reading...
|
