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HEY, KIDDO

Page history last edited by RichiesPicks 5 years, 6 months ago

23 September 2018 HEY, KIDDO by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Scholastic/Graphix, October 2018, 320p., ISBN 978-0-545-90247-2

 

“I’ve seen the needle and the damage done

A little part of it in everyone

But every junkie’s like a setting sun”

-- Neil Young (1972)

 

“My mother started using when she was just thirteen years old. Joe and Shirl tried to help her, but things just got worse and worse. For everyone.

Things were bad at home--things were bad wherever Leslie went. She would run away from home and then turn up again without warning.

My grandfather got her an apartment downtown when she was sixteen, thinking that would help her. It didn’t. It only made it worse.

She’d steal anything to sell it for heroin. She’d walk into a store with a trash bag, fill it with batteries, and then run out of the store--selling the batteries on the black market to fuel her addiction.

She’d shoplift from TJ Maxx and then have her unsuspecting baby sisters return the merchandise for cash. They had no idea the goods were stolen. They thought they were just running errands for their big sister.

And Leslie would steal from Joe and Shirl--all the time. One time, Grandma had her purse sitting out on the kitchen table. Leslie grabbed it and ran. Shirley chased her down the street. but it was no use. She had to go out and get a brand-new license and cancel her credit cards.

That’s why my grandmother was always hiding her purse in cabinets. But the most heartbreaking moment came when Shirley was washing the dishes one night. She took her wedding ring off and placed it to the side of the sink. Leslie knocked her down, grabbed the ring, and disappeared into the night.

On nights that she would return, she wasn’t let in to the house. Leslie banged on the door until it cracked. The only time that Leslie didn’t use was when she got pregnant with me. I was lucky not to be born addicted to heroin. And I was told that--often. But after I came into the world, Leslie started using again. And again and again. My grandfather swooped in, gaining legal custody of me so that I wouldn’t become a ward of the state. Leslie tried halfway homes, trying to recover. But nothing worked. She always went back to that poison.”

 

Cartoonist and author Jarrett J. Krosoczka has a successful career, having created such illustrated children’s books as the LUNCH LADY series and PUNK FARM. HEY, KIDDO is a graphic memoir, told from his teen perspective, of growing up living with his maternal grandparents, Joe and Shirley. This, because his mother was a heroin addict and his father was unknown to him--at least until he was nearly out of high school.

 

For Jarrett, it was tough to have been birthed by an addict who never showed up, even when she promised to, even when she wasn’t in jail. That’s a tough hand to be dealt. But HEY, KIDDO is Jarrett’s own story, not his mother Leslie’s story. That’s why this is actually a really sweet and memorable memoir about the author being raised by his colorful and loving grandparents.

 

I get to regularly visit my own grandkids. I sing, read, and recite poems; run around, take them to the park, build tall towers, give them piggyback rides, and put them down for their naps. Then I’m able to head home and kick back. It’s a much more rewarding gig than when I was an under-appreciated 24/7 parent.

 

That’s why I really admire how Joe and Shirley stepped up big time, in their golden years, to raise Jarrett as his substitute parents.

 

Many of us grow up with wonderful grandparents. But as tweens and teens, we rarely have to negotiate with them, two generations away from our own sensibilities. That Joe and Shirley did such a great job of bridging that multigenerational divide makes me doubly appreciate their efforts and success. I’m also impressed by what a great kid Jarrett was to accept the differences between his own home situation and that of his friends who lived in “normal” parent-child households.

 

Both a joyful, feel-good story of love in the family, and a cautionary tale about addiction, HEY, KIDDO is a first rate graphic read.

 

Richie Partington, MLIS

Richie's Pickshttp://richiespicks.pbworks.com

https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/

richiepartington@gmail.com

 

 

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