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1.23k reviews for:
Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction
Jarrett J. Krosoczka
4.3 AVERAGE
1.23k reviews for:
Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction
Jarrett J. Krosoczka
4.3 AVERAGE
I listened to the audio to this graphic memoir and it was simply superb. It is unlike any other, in that it seems like a full production with sound effects along with a great narration. This graphic memoir hits on very hard hitting topics but is done extremely well. Jarrett had a heroin addict for a mother and a dead beat dad but was raised by his loving and slightly foul mouthed grandparents. I look forward to reading more from him in the future.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, War
Hey Kiddo is a beautifully illustrated memoir about a boy growing up in a non-traditional family situation. I admired Jarrett's resiliency through tough times and am glad this was chosen as a Project Lit Book Club selection!
My husband was raised my his grandparents, and I can't wait to share this with him. Beautiful story.
I hope every single teenager reads this book. What a powerful story about what it means to be family, empathy, and forgiveness. I’ll be thinking about Jarrett’s story for a long, long time.
This book was really different, but a good different. Reading a memoir in the form of a graphic novel was a powerful experience, and I love that the author is so authentic throughout the book. He addresses real issues that people face, that so many are afraid to talk about.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Hey, Kiddo was the first graphic novel I had ever read, aside from Captin Underpants which I read as a kid. I initially read this novel in 2019 for a college course, where I was learning how to use graphic novels to help students who were reading at a lower level. I hadn't revisited it since because I was worried it wouldn't hold up to the hype now that I've read more graphic novels. I was wrong. This book was just as funny, heavy, gut-wrenching, and beautiful as the first time I read it. As I have gotten older, I've come to appreciate the messiness of families even more, and I find solace in the fact that there are others out there who have come from a unique family upbringing as well.
It's hard to describe what this book is about without ruining it for others, but I want to say that Krosoczka has an excellent way of showing his grief of having a mother who was a heroin addict through each stage of his life. You can see the innocence when he was younger, the anger when he was a teenager, and the acceptance as an adult. I love the complex relationship he showed with grappling with the fact that his grandparents raised him because of his mother's circumstances. The author's note made me cry even more than the book itself (DO NOT SKIP THE AUTHOR'S NOTE!).
I feel like this is an amazing book of hope and triumph despite the hand you've been dealt. It also makes me appreciate all of the people in my life who acted as parental figures when it wasn't their job. I truly love this book, and I hope more people read it.
It's hard to describe what this book is about without ruining it for others, but I want to say that Krosoczka has an excellent way of showing his grief of having a mother who was a heroin addict through each stage of his life. You can see the innocence when he was younger, the anger when he was a teenager, and the acceptance as an adult. I love the complex relationship he showed with grappling with the fact that his grandparents raised him because of his mother's circumstances. The author's note made me cry even more than the book itself (DO NOT SKIP THE AUTHOR'S NOTE!).
I feel like this is an amazing book of hope and triumph despite the hand you've been dealt. It also makes me appreciate all of the people in my life who acted as parental figures when it wasn't their job. I truly love this book, and I hope more people read it.
This was a pretty blah memoir. Yes, the story was engaging enough, but I didn't feel like the pictures added much to the story.