JERRY CRAFT is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid, Class Act, and School Trip. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature (2020); the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019), and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer (2020). Jerry was born in Harlem and grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City and now travels the world telling kids and their families about the importance of reading.
CML owns over 100 copies of each book in the New Kid series, which speaks to how popular Jerry’s books are with young readers. Kids can relate to his characters and their stories. Jerry’s work encouraging kids to read, write, and draw and to tell their unique stories is very aligned with the library’s mission.
Guest of The Columbus Metropolitan Library
You can find his work at https://jerrycraft.com/