Hey, Kiddo in France

Happy publication day to Une touche de couleur: Comment j'ai perdu ma mère, trouvé mon père et fait face aux addictions de mes parents.

Thank you, Éditions Delcourt for publishing Hey, Kiddo in France!

Check out this preview!

Hey, Kiddo LIVE

We are getting a majority of the Hey, Kiddo audiobook cast together to stage another Live & Unabridged reading on Feb 23rd at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA. WHO’S IN?! 

Click here for more info!

We're going to the Audies!

This is HUGE! The Oscars of audiobooks! HEY, KIDDO has two Audies nominations! I'm so fired up for the entire team who brought my graphic memoir to audio. We're a Young Adult Finalist and a Multi-Voiced Performance Finalist.

Time to get the kiddos fitted for tuxes and gowns!

Last week, we gathered the young cast of HEY, KIDDO to tell them about the Odyssey Award. We just told them that we’re also up for two Audie Awards!

Audiobook Behind-the-Scenes

Paul Gagne of Scholastic Audiobooks is the reason why HEY, KIDDO was put forward for an audio adaptation. We rolled up our sleeves together trying to figure out how to tell the visual story in an auditory way. I wish we had cameras following us the entire time because the story behind the story would have made for an incredible documentary filled with so many ups and downs and emotional breakthroughs—and ultimately an Odyssey Award win!

But I am grateful that author Lisa Yee took this behind-the-scenes video. (Did you know that she voiced the soap opera actress from Shirley’s “stories”?)

I sat down with Audiophile Magazine to chat about the process of adapting graphic literature for audio. From initial concept to Odyssey Award! Read more here!

Odyssey Award Excitement

I gathered the young cast of the Hey, Kiddo audiobook to watch the American Library Association Youth Media Awards press conference. Everyone got to be late for school. If you were in that audience applauding, it reached the ears of these young performers!

In related news:

Graphic Novels Break Through at the 2020 Youth Media Awards

Thinking about every librarian and classroom teacher who has ever made the case for comics. (And knowing we will all continue to push this format forward.)

Odyssey Audiobook Award and other stickers

You don’t write books to get stickers. But dang, this sure is validating. ‪ (Though, not nearly as validating as the connections I’ve made with this book.)‬

Also thank you to the American Society of Addiction Medicine for citing HEY, KIDDO with the Media Award! I am very honored. I look forward to seeing you all in April for the ceremony.

From the ASAM website:

"The Award is bestowed for a newspaper, magazine, television, radio or website story, column, or program that improves the public's understanding of addiction, addiction treatment, recovery, or the profession of addiction medicine." Read More Here!

THANK YOU!!!!

I’m still processing, but Hey, Kiddo took home the Odyssey Medal for excellence in audiobooks for kid and teen listeners. I am just proud of all the work that EVERYONE put into this! I am so thrilled that Scholastic

 Audio trusted me to not only come on board as a narrator but also as a producer and director on this.

From the ALA website:

Odyssey Award Medal
The Odyssey Award is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. The award is jointly given and administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of ALA, and is sponsored by Booklist.

The story of the wanderings of Ulysses, as he returns to his kingdom of Ithaca after the Trojan War, are ascribed to the blind poet Homer who either wrote, or dictated, the epic poem called "The Odyssey." Whether this odyssey of Ulysses was based on one specific event, or many different ones, is argued by researchers today, though they all seem to agree that the poems comprising The Odyssey were originally told and retold in the oral tradition, hence the name for this award. The Odyssey Award allows us to return to the ancient roots of storytelling, while living in our modern world.

I made a little thing to express my gratitude for the Odyssey committee selecting the HEY, KIDDO audiobook as the Odyssey medalist.

I wonder how many cassette tapes we would have needed had the HEY, KIDDO audio been published when the story took place?

Monday morning, all of the major awards in children's and young adult literature were announced at the American Library Association conference, and we won the audiobook prize!

To think. I got National Book Award-winning author Jeanne Birdsall to cuss as my grandmother in an audiobook, and she up and wins an ALA award for it!

I stopped in so we could take in all the Odyssey Award awesomeness together for a moment.

More Behind-the-Scenes on the Hey, Kiddo AudioBook

Evolution of a book cover from initial concepts to final design. 

Paul Gagne of Scholastic Audiobooks is the reason why HEY, KIDDO was put forward for an audio adaptation. We rolled up our sleeves together trying to figure out how to tell the visual story in an auditory way. I wish we had cameras following us the entire time because the story behind the story would have made for an incredible documentary filled with so many ups and downs and emotional breakthroughs—and ultimately an Odyssey Award win!

But I am grateful that author Lisa Yee took this behind-the-scenes video. (Did you know that she voiced the soap opera actress from Shirley’s “stories”?)

If you listened to the HEY, KIDDO audiobook, you’ll be transported to the various environments in which the story takes place. The soundscapes of exterior spaces, the lighting of a grandparent’s cigarette, a car engine.... These are all thanks to the brilliant Steve Syarto who helped stitch this whole audio experience together! Here he is with corduroy pants recreating the sound of a very young Jarrett trailing behind his mother as he walked down the street. Steve is the unsung hero of this project which is why I jump for joy every time the sound design gets a special shout out in reviews.

More stories from the audiobook production! Since we wanted to use a different voice for every single character AND have authentic “Wustah” accents throughout, what better place to record than in Worcester.

Angela had a few moments before her nursing shift started, so she came on in to the recording studio to voice the preschool teacher. She walked in nervous (which is silly because being a nurse would make me WAY more nervous) and she walked out with a smile on her face, joking, “This is the first time my Worcester accent came in handy!” Thank you, Ang, for bringing such warmth to that preschool teacher! (And you didn’t meet Ang in Hey, Kiddo because how I know her isn’t an area that was covered in this book. A lot of scenes that were set in high school and the teen-friends-sphere were cut to focus on family life.)

Marty Cariglia is another old friend that I tapped to lend a hand with the HEY, KIDDO audiobook. Mart voiced the dismissive Phys Ed teacher. And he totally NAILED IT! So he either has a future in voice acting or belittling dorky 9th graders. But he brought just what that scene needed! Not pictured: Marty rolling up with sunglasses on like he was walking out of a Hollywood trailer ready to shoot his scene.

Thanks, YALSA!

Thank you to YALSA for naming the HEY, KIDDO audiobook as one of their 2020 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults!‬ To see the full list, click here!

Hey, Kiddo audiobook sample!

I got to tell my story with words and pictures—now I get to tell my story with sound and time. Here’s a sample of what my graphic memoir sounds like as an audiobook. Hey, Kiddo is available to preorder, wherever audiobooks are sold. The entire audiobook publishes on October 29th from Scholastic Audiobooks.

ICYMI: I was on WICN’s Inquiry, talking about what went into adapting my graphic memoir as an audiobook: https://www.wicn.org/podcast/jarrett-j-krosoczka/‬

Mark Lynch has listened to the audiobook of HEY, KIDDO. He shares his thoughts, and I get into how we adapted a piece of graphic literature for audio. ‬

‪Also, the potential stage adaptation and the TV offer that I walked away from. ‬

Thank you!!!

“BOOK OF THE YEAR!”
????
Through the roof to receive this Harvey Award at New York Comic Con!

^ For Joe & Shirl. ‬

My acceptance speech for Book of the Year from The Harvey Awards ceremony at New York Comic Con.

Librarians, this is especially for you.

What I was most proud of that night? Listening to my daughter accept a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award on my behalf. I’m a little misty-eyed over here. ‬

Also, this is so outside of Gina’s wheelhouse, and I couldn’t be more impressed by her!

New Kiddo and Hey, Kid both took home New England Book Awards! ‬

Here is my acceptance speech from the New England Book Awards. There were a few of the “characters” from the book in the audience, and I loved having the opportunity to publicly thank them. 

Thank you so much to the booksellers all across New England for citing Hey, Kiddo as the YA Book of the Year in the New England Book Awards. I appreciate all of your support over the years and I especially thank you for getting behind this book that was such a departure for me.

Hey, Kiddo Webcast

Tell your friends -- on Wednesday, I will host two free webcasts for HEY, KIDDO. I'll talk about my creative process and then take questions live:

http://www.studiojjk.com/webcasts.html

Also, look for info in the above link on how you can get signed books from my local indie!

Audiobook Update

‪We are in the final stages of production for the HEY, KIDDO audiobook. We needed the sound of a Nintendo cartridge getting placed into the console. So also making an appearance: my old Nintendo!‬

It’s a testament to how much work the pictures do to tell the story. When adapting HEY, KIDDO for audiobook, we did an audit of all the story elements being told with the illustrations, and I then wrote a significant amount of text to expand the narration. After listening to the first pass, there were still story details missing, and I wrote an additional 25 passages, which were recorded this week.

‪The “character” of Jarrett was split between three performers for the Hey, Kiddo audiobook. Zoe voiced Kid Jarrett, Jaiden voiced Tween Jarrett, and I voiced Teen Jarrett. Since I also voiced Narrator Jarrett, we needed to differentiate the sound of the narration from the dialogue. So I performed Teen Jarrett with my Wustah accent when delivahring my lines, and the pitch of the recording was increased to make me sound younger. ‬

All looks as though the audiobook will launch at the end of October. Stay tuned...

Hey, Kiddo Audiobook

‪Listening to the first pass on the final chapters of the HEY, KIDDO audiobook. The production quality that Scholastic Audio is putting into this production is astounding!‬

PBS Books - Live Interview

In which I discuss writing memoir and the complicated struggles of my mother’s addiction:

Harvey Awards

‪I am beyond thrilled to have HEY, KIDDO land as a multiple Harvey Awards nominee! HK is up for Book of the Year and Best Children’s or YA Book. Winners will be announced at NY Comic Con in October. ‬

Upcoming Events!

I have some exciting events lined up for the fall! Hope to see you at one of these stops if you live nearby. More info for each stop on my website: StudioJJK.com

(Although I will have a new Jedi Academy book in September, these talks will all be centered around HEY, KIDDO.)

The NAIBA Carla Cohen Free Speech Award

A complete and total honor to have HEY, KIDDO awarded The NAIBA Carla Cohen Free Speech Award!‬

Also, I made a Spotify playlist while working on HEY, KIDDO to get me in the right headspace. I just made the playlist public if you’d like to give a listen.

Hey, Kiddo at NE Book Awards and SDCC!

The Kids are alright. I’m thrilled to have HEY, KIDDO make it as a finalist in the YA category of the New England Book Awards. Equally as excited for my pal Jerry Craft’s NEW KID, which made it to the children’s category.

I’m not at Comic Con this year, but proud to have HEY, KIDDO as a part of Scholastic Graphix’s history.

Recording Hey, Kiddo pt.5

The Belmonte Boys were crucial to helping me get the Hey, Kiddo live reads up and running. They make an appearance in the audiobook as well!

Lisa Yee used to write for television. She used to live in LA....which is why I gave her a particular line for her cameo in the HEY, KIDDO audiobook...

I recorded the Author’s Note for the HEY, KIDDO audiobook on Monday. Another Worcester T worn for that record—this one from Worcester Wares.