Jerry Craft is a graphic artist and writer. He is the author of New Kid (a Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, and Kirkus Prize winner)and Class Act. He has worked on numerous picture books, graphic novels, and middle grade novels. Jerry is the creator of Mama’s Boyz, an award-winning syndicated comic strip. He has won five African American Literary Awards, and he is a cofounder of the Schomburg Center’s Annual Black Comic Book Festival. He received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts and now lives in Connecticut.