New Kid: Chapter 2 Summary & Analysis

Jordan thinks of kids on the first day of school as zombies—no matter what neighborhood they live or attend school in. As Mr. Landers pulls up to Riverdale Academy Day School, or RAD, he shares with Jordan that he used to go here, as did his dad; and Liam’s younger siblings go here too. Mr. Landers wakes Liam up and ushers the boys out of the car. Jordan gulps as he sees the zombies. He feels momentarily hopeful when a Black man pulls up to drop a kid off—but it turns out the man is a White girl’s driver, not her dad. Mr. Landers says that Mr. Pierre will pick up Liam and Jordan later, and Liam quickly insists that Mr. Pierre is a family friend.

As the boys walk deeper into the campus, Jordan marvels that Liam’s family seems to “really love” RAD if Liam is the third generation to attend. Liam notes that he didn’t have a choice in whether to come here, which Jordan sympathizes with. Jordan gawks at the towering trees, tall buildings, and extensive sports fields. Once they enter a building, he observes to Liam that everyone wears a lot of pink here. Liam corrects him that it’s salmon, not pink—but everyone shops at the same places. Just then, Jordan sees a Black boy walking down the hallway. Excited, he asks Liam who it is. Liam explains that’s Maury; Maury has been here since kindergarten and lives on Liam’s street.

Just then, Liam gulps: DeAndre, Winston, and Eric, sophomore bullies, are coming. The bullies approach Maury and call him “Maury-O.” When Jordan asks Liam why they use that nickname, Liam says it rhymes with Oreo, but he doesn’t get it. Jordan does—they’re teasing Maury for being “White on the inside. Black on the outside”—but he says nothing. Liam assures Jordan that most kids are nice as a boy appears, teases Jordan for being short and calls him “Gordon,” and introduces himself as Andy Peterson. Andy asks “what” Jordan is, but he drops the subject when Jordan asks him to clarify what he means. Then, Andy shares that as the starting quarterback, he’s uniquely qualified to tell Jordan who to hang out with at school. Jordan should, Andy insists, avoid the “anime dork[s],” “show-off[s],” “computer geek[s],” kids who are “awkward,” and Liam, “king of the dorks.”

Liam rolls his eyes and tells Jordan to follow him to Ms. Rawle’s homeroom class. Andy has the same homeroom, so he follows. He tells Jordan that Jordan will like his math teacher, Mr. Garner, though he won’t say why. Entering the classroom, Andy greets a boy named Collin with “dawg.” Moments later, a Black boy enters the classroom and introduces himself as Drew. Jordan is intrigued, but he can’t bring himself to meet Drew’s eyes. The new students all introduce themselves. The last to go is Alexandra, who introduces herself by having the puppet on her hand introduce itself and her. Everyone is shocked. When homeroom ends, Jordan declines Liam’s offer to walk him to math class. This, it turns out, was a mistake: Jordan spends his morning seemingly walking in circles, feeling increasingly alone.