Jarrett Krosoczka, seen here in his Easthampton studio, says many people - most notably his wife, Gina, and his late grandparents - helped him become a successful children’s book author and artist through their steadfast support. Jarrett Krosoczka did hundreds of initial sketches, detailed line drawings and colored backing pages for “Hey, Kiddo,” his longest work ever - over 300 pages. Jarrett Krosoczka compares an earlier drawing from “Hey, Kiddo” with the finished scene from the book. At right is a letter his mother, Leslie, wrote him when he was boy. It’s his first book for young adult readers. Jarrett Krosoczka pages through his new book, “Hey, Kiddo,” a graphic memoir of his early life. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLISĪn early draft from a scene in the prologue of “Hey, Kiddo,” in which a teenage Jarrett Krosoczka visits a cemetery with his grandfather, Joe. Some early self-portraits from “Hey, Kiddo” of Krosoczka as a young boy and a teenager. In his graphic memoir “Hey, Kiddo,” Jarrett Krosoczka’s first book for young adult readers, he tells a coming-of-age story that also tackles his mother’s heroin addiction. His grandfather always supported his dream of being an artist, he said. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLISĪ picture of Joe Krosoczka, Jarrett Krosoczka’s grandfather, in Krosoczka’s Easthampton studio. His grandparents, Joe and Shirley, who raised him, are in the middle photograph. Hey, Kiddo is a profoundly important memoir about growing up in a family grappling with addiction, and finding the art that helps you survive.Photographs of Jarrett Krosoczka’s family. Only as a teenager can Jarrett begin to piece together the truth of his family, reckoning with his mother and tracking down his father. 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. 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.

His father is a mystery - Jarrett doesn't know where to find him, or even what his name is.

His mom is an addict, in and out of rehab, and in and out of Jarrett's life. But Jarrett's family is much more complicated than that. A National Book Award Finalist! In kindergarten, Jarrett Krosoczka's teacher asks him to draw his family, with a mommy and a daddy.

Jarrett krosoczka hey kiddo