This is a graphic novel. It's a great slice of life graphic novel that deals with adoption, addiction, and growing up in unusual circumstances. It all starts with a kid learning how to drive in the cemetery.
Sidenote, this book does contain some colorful language in it (for my younger audience), and mature themes presented in digestible ways without shying away from the truth of the situation; so I'd recommend this for grades 7 & up.
An amazon summary, "In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka's teacher asks him to draw his family, with a mommy and a daddy. But Jarrett's family is much more complicated than that. His mom is an addict, in and out of rehab, and in and out of Jarrett's life. His father is a mystery -- Jarrett doesn't know where to find him, or even what his name is. Jarrett lives with his grandparents -- two very loud, very loving, very opinionated people who had thought they were through with raising children until Jarrett came along.
Jarrett goes through his childhood trying to make his non-normal life as normal as possible, finding a way to express himself through drawing even as so little is being said to him about what's going on. Only as a teenager can Jarrett begin to piece together the truth of his family, reckoning with his mother and tracking down his father.
Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly important memoir about growing up in a family grappling with addiction, and finding the art that helps you survive." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Jarrett is learning how to drive in the cemetery from his grandpa. His grandpa asks him to stop the car and shows Jarrett his grave site, his grandma's grave site, and points out where his sister's grave site is in relation to his own parents. Jarrett asks his grandpa why they have their grave sites already picked out, and his grandpa just replies so his kids won't need to.
Then, we learn about how his grandpa and grandma met, the story of their early years and how many kids they had, before it lands on his mother becoming pregnant with him at a young age. Her parents bought her a house not far from theirs and she raised Jarrett in it for a few years. He remembers getting his picture taken in his Halloween costume on the kitchen counter, he remembers eating his Frankenberry cereal and saving the marshmallows for the last bite, and he also remembers people coming into the house and leaving at all hours of the night. He also had nightmares that he would wake up from that he couldn't run to his mother's bedroom in the middle of the night about. Then, his grandparents took him away from that house to raise them as his own.
Because his Mom got caught shop lifting and was taken down to the police station. But he learned over time that his mother was a drug addict.
That's enough summary.
This book packs a bunch of emotional curiosity, triumph, and the harsh realities of growing up in his situation. It feels very, very real and captures a lot of the challenges and big questions presented in such a situation.
Jarrett's story is also showing how it's possible to find yourself, your voice, in the turmoil of not knowing your mother or father, but being loved by your grandparents in their own way. Even if it's not the nicest way.
I think what I found most fascinating was the wide variety in relationship dynamics through the course of Jarrett's life. It wasn't just his mother, father, grandparents, but it was also his aunts and uncles; some of whom he treated as his own siblings. There's also a tenacity about Jarrett to just discover art that was really wonderful to read about.
I liked this book a lot; it's packed full of a lot of good, life moments.
Happy reading!
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