New Boy Overview
Tracy Chevalier’s New Boy begins as the titular new boy O, the son of a Ghanian diplomat, starts his first day as the only black child at an all-white, suburban Washington D.C. elementary school. The year is 1974, and his fellow 6th graders express open prejudice against him, but O soon finds an ally in Dee, the most popular girl in school. As O and Dee’s relationship develops, while jealous bully Ian looks on and hatches a plan to separate the black boy and golden girl. By the end of the day, their lives have all been touched by a tragedy that will leave none of them the same. New Boy is an innovative retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello that transposes the original play’s themes of jealousy, racism, social status, sexuality, and betrayal onto an familiar modern setting.
Study Pack
The New Boy Study Pack contains:
