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Jordan’s Bus Ride
Jordan’s sketchbook—and particularly Ms. Rawle’s reaction to it when she flips through it—represents the difficult position Black students like Jordan and Drew find themselves in due to their White teachers’ and classmates’ unwitting racism. In his sketchbook, Jordan creates several cartoons describing (and sometimes joking about) the various microaggressions that he, Drew, Maury, and DeAndre experience at school. Namely, he draws about the White students and teachers mixing up the Black students’ names, suggesting to Jordan that his White peers don’t see the Black students as individual people worthy of getting to know and of learning to distinguish from one another. As they reflect on their classmates’ behavior, Jordan and Drew decide that there’s not much they can do about this unexamined, casual racism except constantly correct people who call them the wrong name and joke about it among themselves.
However, when Ms. Rawle finds Jordan’s sketchbook and reads it, she has an entirely different reaction to what Jordan describes. She insists the sketchbook is a “polemic” (an attack) against her and the school. She fails to see how Jordan isn’t exaggerating or meanly accusing White teachers and students of anything—he’s just pointing out how dehumanizing it is that they constantly get his name wrong. Ms. Rawle’s failure to understand Jordan’s perspective, as portrayed in the sketchbook and when Jordan tries to verbally explain it to her, thus highlights her unexamined bigotry and closed-mindedness. That she takes issue with Jordan’s sketchbook, which is an ostensibly private place for him to work through his thoughts, feelings, and struggles, thus symbolizes the difficult spot Jordan and other students of color find themselves in: they face pressure to suffer in silence, as any response, no matter how true and factual, is seen as a gross overreaction.
Jordan’s Sketchbook Quotes in New Kid
The New Kid quotes below all refer to the symbol of Jordan’s Sketchbook. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4 Quotes
Fitting in on the ride to school is hard work! I have to be like a chameleon. For example, in Washington Heights, I try to look tough.
Inwood is a little different, so I can lose the hood. No one ever smiles in the morning, so you won’t catch me doing that either!
Kingsbridge is where all of the public school kids get off, so it’s okay to take off my shades. I can even draw!
Last comes Riverdale, where I do my best not to look cool AT ALL! No shades, and definitely no hood. I don’t even like to draw ‘cause people might think I’m going to use my markers to “tag the bus”!
[…]
Man! By the time I get to school, I’m exhausted!
“That new kid is kinda cool.”
“Yet so nonthreatening!”
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Chapter 8 Quotes
Mainstream book heroes:
-Lives in a magical kingdom!
-Lives in a stable home!
-Wants to live better!
-His father is king!
Reviews: A thrilling magical tale that is sure to inspire readers of all ages to never give up until they have found the treasure they seek. -School Library Journal
African American book heroes:
-Lives in the hood!
-Lives in a broken home!
-Just wants to live!
-His father is gone!
Reviews: A gritty, urban reminder of the grit of today’s urban grittiness. -Jet magazine
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Chapter 10 Quotes
I wish I was Batman!
Not just for all the cool reasons.
[…]
Or the fact that he’s rich. Not just rich—sooooooooooo rich!
I wish I was Batman so that I could fit in anywhere! One minute he’s at a board meeting.
And the next, he’s in the most dangerous part of town. Completely fearless!
Although, he never seems to have any friends.
[…]
But luckily that’s not me anymore.
But unlike me, Batman is always in control of EVERYTHING!
[…]
And I really love how Batman always stands up for the little guys.
Because usually that “little guy” is me!
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Chapter 13 Quotes
Hello, I’m Oprah Winfrey, and I need your help to tackle a serious problem.
Because there’s something going around your school and you may not even know about it. Something bad!!! And the worst part is that some of your own friends may be on it.
What are they on?
Financial aid!!!
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“But how can I be attacking the school if all this stuff really happens? I mean, no offense, but you call Drew by the wrong name all the time. And the year is almost over. And some kids DO look down on kids on financial aid. And kids stare. All the time! It’s not always easy being so different!”
“But Jordan, being different is a blessing. It’s what makes you special.”
“I’m tired of being special! Being special stinks!”
“You and Drew should be proud to be here. I know I am. Just embrace the school and allow it to embrace you back. I just want you to be happy, Jordan.”
“Oh, I see…it’s okay that this stuff happens to us…it’s just not okay for us to complain about it. Ms. Rawle, can I ask you a question?”
“Yes, Jordan, you may.”
“Would you teach at a school in my neighborhood? You know, so you could be special?”
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Get the entire New Kid LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Jordan’s Sketchbook Symbol Timeline in New Kid
The timeline below shows where the symbol Jordan’s Sketchbook appears in New Kid. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...Batman—Batman has a jet, so he doesn’t have to fly. Jordan is drawing in his sketchbook when his parents pull him out of his reverie and into their argument. Mom asks...
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...room to get her camera, leaving Jordan alone with Dad. Dad asks to see Jordan’s sketchbook, and Jordan hesitantly hands it over. Dad takes in Jordan’s back-to-school cartoon, in which textbooks,...
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Chapter 3
...feels tiny by the time lunch rolls around. He sits down and pulls out his sketchbook to draw. A boy named Alex—another new kid from homeroom—sits down with Jordan and asks...
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Chapter 4
...By Kingsbridge, Jordan can remove his sunglasses and draw. However, he has to put his sketchbook away before he gets to Riverdale, as people might think he’d “tag the bus.” It’s...
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Chapter 7
...The conversation returns to school, and Jordan lets Gran’pa look at a cartoon in his sketchbook about the perils of taking pictures with Mom on her old camera.
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Chapter 12
...to go vomit in the bathroom. Then, on the bus that afternoon, Jordan realizes his sketchbook isn’t in his backpack.
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Chapter 13
Jordan spends all night worrying about where his sketchbook might be, and he hurries to school the next day. He enters Ms. Rawle’s classroom...
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