New Kid: Insecure Showrunner to Direct Adaptation of Award-Winning Graphic Novel

An adaptation of author/illustrator Jerry Craft’s New York Times bestselling graphic novel New Kid is in development from Insecure showrunner Prentice Penny. Universal Pictures and LeBron James’ SpringHill production company are collaborating on the project. New Kid stars a young Black boy named Jordan Banks, who is enrolled in a prestigious private school and finds himself as one of the few kids of color. The book was the winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. The script for the feature film comes from Eli Wilson Pelton, one of Penny’s collaborators on Insecure.

New Kid made news last year when it was one of the many banned books at a Texas school district. Class Act, another of Craft’s books, was also banned after a parent claimed the literature contained critical race theory. Class Act and New Kid were later returned to the school libraries after a review committee told NBC News that they “determined the appropriateness of the book, New Kid.”

“The reading material is already back on District library shelves and the virtual author visit is scheduled to take place on October 25 as part of the instructional day,” the district said in its statement.

“As an African American boy who grew up in Washington Heights in New York City, I almost never saw kids like me in any of the books assigned to me in school,” Craft said in a statement. “Books aimed at kids like me seemed to deal only with history or misery. That’s why it has always been important to me to show kids of color as just regular kids, and to create iconic African American characters like Jordan Banks from ‘New Kid.’ I hope that readers of all ages will see the kindness and understanding that my characters exhibit and emulate those feelings in their day-to-day lives.”

A synopsis of the New Kid graphic novel can be found below:

“Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But 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 he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?”

What are your thoughts on New Kid getting a film adaptation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!