Author-illustrator Jerry Craft’s award-winning 2019 graphic novel New Kid is headed for a film adaptation, with Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny at the helm.
According to Variety, Penny has signed on to direct a feature film based on New Kid for Universal Pictures. The film will be written by Penny’s Insecure collaborator Eli Wilson Pelton (also known for his work on Bridgerton), with LeBron James and Maverick Carter producing through The SpringHill Company. Penny and Chris Pollack will executive produce through A Penny for Your Thoughts Entertainment. Jamal Henderson and Spencer Beighley will also executive produce alongside Craft himself.
Originally published on Feb. 5, 2019, Craft’s New Kid tells the story of Jordan Banks, a 7th grader who “loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life.” However, “instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.” As Jordan “makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School,” he “soon finds himself torn between two worlds — and not really fitting into either one.”
Upon its release, New Kid won the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. It is also a selection of the Schomburg Center’s Black Liberation Reading List. Craft followed New Kid up with a sequel, Class Act, which was published on Oct. 6, 2020. Universal acquired the film rights to New Kid in 2020 thanks to its first-look deal with SpringHill, which initially optioned the title in 2019.
New Kid has also been the subject of controversy. Following unsubstantiated claims that the graphic novel promoted critical race theory, a Pennsylvania school district banned New Kid as an educational resource in 2020. Following protests by parents and students, the ban was overturned in September 2021. A school district in Katy, Texas also voted to ban the book in October 2021, though subsequently returned it to school shelves. The ban seemingly had the opposite of the desired effect, with sales for New Kid spiking amid the news.
“I don’t think that the people that banned it actually read the book,” Craft said. “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.”
Source: Variety
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