Honest Graphic Memoir of Addiction, Loss, and Artistic Passion

Hey, Kiddo is a graphic memoir that tells the story of Jarrett J. Krosoczka from the time he goes to live with his grandparents until he graduates from high school. The subtitle gets to the meat of the story: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction.

The book is told through Krosoczka’s eyes as he loses his mother after she goes to prison, though he doesn’t know why, and eventually learns who his father is. He describes his grandparents as very old, having lived through the depression, and smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. They also often drink heavily are a bit gruff, though are loving to him.

Since it is told through his point of view and what he knew at the time, we don’t exactly find out why his mom went to prison, though there are pictures showing what he learned about the circumstances later. We also learn that she is a heroin addict and there are references to it throughout the book, often through other characters or to what the family reads in the paper after she suffers an overdose or is arrested.

He wrote the book for teens who may have lived through similar circumstances, but I found the book to be pretty sad and rough at times, so I’m not sure how a teen would read it. The moments that touched me the most were those between Krosoczka and his…