The Jacket is a 2001 children's book by author Andrew Clements. It was first published in 2001 as a serialized story that ran in the Boston Globe and was later published in book format on August 1, 2003 through Atheneum Books. The work centers upon a young boy that discovers that although he doesn't identify as racist or discriminatory, he does have deep seated and unconscious prejudices that prompt him to immediately suspect the worst about a black student at his school.