Jerry Craft
Jerry Craft (born January 22, 1963) is an American cartoonist and children's book illustrator best known for his syndicated newspaper comic strip "Mama's Boyz" and his graphic novel "New Kid". Craft is one of only a handful of syndicated African American cartoonists in the US. Early life and education. Craft grew up in Washington Heights and attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1984 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Media Arts. Career. Craft worked for twelve years as a copywriter for various advertising agencies, during which  time he also got his first comics work on projects for Marvel Comics and Harvey Comics. Moving on to King Features Syndicate, Craft spent eight years writing sales brochures. This connection with King Features led to the syndication of Craft's "Mama's Boyz" beginning in 1995. Craft later worked as editorial director of the "Sports Illustrated for Kids" website where he was nominated for a New Media Award by the National Cartoonists Society for his series of popular Flash cartoons, before leaving that job in October 2006 to become a full-time cartoonist. Craft performs regular cartooning workshops at  schools, camps, and libraries. On January 27, 2020, his graphic novel, "New Kid", was awarded the Newbery Medal, becoming the first graphic novel to receive this honor. "New Kid" also won the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize. Section::::"Mama's Boyz". "Mama's Boyz" follows the lives of African American single mother Pauline Porter and her two teenage sons Tyrell and Yusuf. Other characters include Pauline's brother Greg and their parents. "Mama's Boyz" is the outgrowth of a prior strip called "The Outside View," which Craft first self-syndicated in 1987. In 1990, he adapted  some elements of "The Outside View" to create "Mama's Boyz", which he self-syndicated to New York's "The City Sun" and eventually a number of other weekly papers across the country. In 1995, "Mama's Boyz" was picked up for weekly syndication by King Features. "Mama's Boyz" has been praised in "Great Books for African American Children", and featured in "Chicken Soup for the African American Soul", "Chicken Soup for the African American Woman's Soul", and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing". The Mama's Boyz characters also act as official "spokescharacters" of the  American Diabetes Association's African-American Program. Section::::"New Kid". Published in 2019, "New Kid" tells the story of Jordan Banks, an African-American seventh grader who joins a new predominantly white, affluent, private school. The book is a partially autobiographical coming of age novel. As one of the few African-American students at his school, Jordan has to face daily microagressions, illustrated in the book. Personal life. Craft has two sons, Jaylen and Aren, who co-wrote the book "The Offenders: Saving the World While Serving Detention!" with their father. Craft lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.