Gr 4–8—As Jordan enters his last year of middle school, he receives an acceptance letter from an art school. Does
he really want to be the new kid again? This heartfelt, must-read conclusion perfectly complements Craft’s previous
titles. Readers will be reluctant to let these characters go.

I loved the first 2 books in the New Kid graphic novel series and I am a big fan of Jerry Craft (yeah for winning the Newbery with a graphic novel).

The kids from Riverdale Academy go to Paris. The trip doesn't go as planned and the kids struggle at times to foreign food, culture, and language. And they all can't leave friendship struggles back at school. Some of the antics are funny while others provide important lessons for the characters as well as the reader.

Some of the plot points in the story were disjointed and seemed to be included to make a point rather than add to the characters or pace of the book. ( )

Representation: Black, Latino and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: N/A?
Score: Six points out of ten.
This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.

This book has been circling my recommendations for a while and when my library purchased this I got my hands on this and finally read it, oh and this is the third book in the series, the first two were New Kid and Class Act and I enjoyed them both. This one? Not so much, only because there were so many flaws. It starts with the main characters Jordan, Drew and Liam (I don't know their last names; it's been a while since I've read the last two books) living their lives which includes going to the school known as Riverdale Academy Day or RAD for short. After a few pages of that (kidding, it's like a full third or even half of the book. A true testament to its pacing,) RAD somehow has enough funds to afford a school trip to go to Paris (to be fair, it is privileged after all) for a significant section of the novel. I did like seeing all the characters I knew beforehand acclimatising to their new surroundings but I didn't like the pacing, it was too slow and sometimes I felt like nothing significant happened during some parts of the book. Also the mood of this story felt different to the previous two since they were a lot more lighthearted and even faster paced than this installment. Worst of all was that one message where the book said thumbs down are bad but you can do a thumbs down if something is wrong? So confusing. Why did the novel contradict itself? I'm not sure if this is the final book in the series or another book coming soon, if it's the former, that left a sour taste but if it's the latter which I'm hoping for maybe the author can redeem himself. The cameos made me do a double take. They're not as funny as the cameos in the second book though. ( )

The middle schoolers of Riverdale Academy School get an amazing opportunity to travel in small groups, with many of the tweens taking off for Paris, France. There they notice cultural differences, not only between themselves and the French people but also among themselves.

This third book in the New Kid series is another hit. As with the previous titles, it balances difficult topics (such as bullying, racism, and more) with humor (such as zingy one-liners, visual gags, and more) so that it always manages to stay lighthearted while providing positive messages about doing the right thing, being a true friend, learning to cross cultural boundaries correctly, and so on. ( )

Jordan and his classmates are off on a school trip to Paris. In this third of the New Kid series, we see the nerdy Maury flourish as the group's guide and financial fixer; he's very familiar with Paris and his credit card buys the kids' meals when their teachers' cards are declined. The kids finally call out Andy on his jokester ways and potentially set him straight. Jordan continues to bond with his buddies Liam and Drew. And the trip is a revelation of possibilities for everyone. There are Easter eggs galore in this volume, including plays on famous store names, references to the first two books, digs at book banning, and a drawn-out book-ending tribute to Raina Telgemeier (but also see Alexandra's t-shirt). I suspect there are a number of inside-joke Easter eggs, too! Fans of New Kid and Class Act will be on board for this final adventure of the RAD kids. ( )