National Book Award Photos

What a night! My book will forever have a silver sticker on its cover, and I’ll forever have this love on my arm. Thrilled to be a part of this whole thing that is the National Book Awards. What an exhilarating couple of days. Thank you all for the love and support!

SO many congratulations to Elizabeth Acevedo! Her POET X is brilliant, as is she. Her speech was moving and inspiring—which should come as no surprise to anyone who has had the opportunity to hear her. So if you have yet to read POET X—get on that!

It’s in the details! My editor, David Levithan, and art director, Phil Falco, surprised me with touches of burnt orange. David with his tie and cummerbund, Phil with his pocket square and socks. (Plus, Phil’s tux was navy blue.) Pure book love and support. 

In the fall of 1999, when I was schlepping my portfolio around to publishers, I wandered into Books Of Wonder. What hope it gave me. I signed a few books for them at last night’s event for the National Book Award Finalists…

From readings in hallowed venues all across to a celebration at Scholastic to the red carpet. WOW! What a trip to be a National Book Award Finalist. Here are a whole mess of photos from my experience. Honored to be there with Leslie, Tobin, Eugene, Liz, and CPC.

REVENGE OF THE SIS COVER REVEAL!

Amy Ignatow and I made a Star Wars!

Jedi Academy: Revenge of the Sis will publish on March 26th!

Amy Ignatow is one of the very funniest people in the galaxy. SO excited to be her copilot as I jump into a new Jedi Academy story arc.

Christina Starspeeder is ready for her spotlight! Cover reveal for REVENGE OF THE SIS over on Comics Beat. 

New York Public Library!

An amazing opportunity—Instagram invited us to a private event at the New York Public Library while it was closed. Here are some of my photos:

Road Trip

We were on a family road trip. Needed to make a quick stop into CVS. Gina walks by the seasonal aisle and…

"Nice Cat"

There have been so many profound moments on this book tour. I’m still processing many of them. But here’s a photo from tonight—Jack Gantos and I talking in front of this slide at the Boston Athenænum. 

📸 by Mike Lewis 

Also, I painted a portrait of Rotten Ralph and presented it to Jack. 

Stan Lee

The X-Men and Spider-Man comics I read as a teen made me a reader. I spent countless hours drawing these characters on poster board, mimicking what I saw in the comics. Rest In Peace, Stan Lee.

Lunch Lady meets Hey, Kiddo

It is always inspiring to spend time with An Open Book Foundation —they bring authors to under-resources schools, AND every student walks away with a free book. But today? Today was a high school. And man, I feel so lucky to connect with these young adults.

Many of these teens read my books when they were kids. And one student? They went wild when they made the connection with me and Lunch Lady, the only books they’d read when they were younger. I don’t draw in Hey, Kiddo when I sign the books. Because—awkward. But for this one…

Hey, Kiddo Press Roundup pt.4

School Library Journal lists Hey, Kiddo in both the YA and graphic novel best-of lists. Honored to be recognized by this group of game-changers who are getting books into the hands of young readers every single day!

And look at that amazing cover art by John Hendrix for SLJ’s December issue!

School Library Journal: Best Books of 2018

When a student asks what you would say to a kid who “might” be living what you lived through... I am grateful that HEY, KIDDO is opening up these conversations. 

From the Chicago Tribune: National Book Award finalist visits Elgin school, shares childhood, family addiction story that became focus of book.

I stopped by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to wish all of my friends up North a Happy Thanksgiving. 🇨🇦🍗

Just kidding. I was on CBC's q to talk about the weightiness of writing difficult truths in literature for young people: Click to listen: Why author Jarrett J. Krosoczka doesn't hide the hard truths about addiction from kids.

A few weeks back, I had the honor of stopping by my local PBS affiliate, WGBY, to talk about HEY, KIDDO. Video above!

Crazy honored and thrilled to make it to TIME’s year-end list! The 10 Best YA and Children's Books of 2018

Especially sweet to be recommended by Entertainment Weekly when my pals Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera are there too! EW talks YA: Reviews of a bittersweet gay rom-com, the Dear Evan Hansen novel, and more!

Thrilled to have HEY, KIDDO be a part of this. Thank you, NPR Books!

Our Guide to 2018's Great Reads

Photo Credit: Rod Morata / Michael Priest Photography

You can listen to Jenny Han pronounce “Krosoczka,” and hear Elizabeth Acevedo, Leslie Connor , MTAnderson, Christopher Paul Curtis, and I read from our books and answer questions from the audience during the National Book Awards Teen Press Conference! Video above.

Listen in as all 25 of the NBA finalists read passages from their nominated books! Video above!

**This was a livestream, so it begins at the 15 minute mark. I’m at the 42 minute mark.** 

Thrilled to have HEY, KIDDO listed in two separate best-of lists in Washington Post’s 2018 literary wrap-up. 

10 Best Graphic Novels of 2018

Best Children's Books of 2018

Great lists to find your next reads!

HEY, KIDDO has been named the best graphic novel of 2018 by Amazon. This is a huge honor to be recognized in the graphic novel format across genres and ages. HEY, KIDDO was also listed as one of the top young adult books of the year. I’m bowled over!

And just a quick PSA: If you are attending an author’s reading, odds are extremely high there is a local bookshop behind that event. So please support IRL experiences by purchasing books from those local indies.

Autumn Appreciation

A glorious afternoon for a family hike here in these New England woods.

“It’s like a warm-color rainbow.”—my kid

Revenge of the Sis

March 26, 2019

Middle Grade Fiction

Scholastic

Hey, Kiddo at Blue Willow Books

At my November 19th reading at Blue Willow Books in Houston, I’ll be in conversation with 17-year-old artist Isaiah Wakeham. Isaiah has been reading my books since he was a baby. Here he is now and at his Punk Farm-themed 5th birthday. 

‬ 7pm!

Follow him on Insta at https://instagram.com/lucky_stripe_designs

Hey, Kiddo Press Roundup pt.3

For your weekend listening:

I sat down with librarian, kidlit advocate, and podcaster Matthew Winner.

If you were looking for a place to hear me read a passage from HEY, KIDDO, here you go.

Click here to listen.

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I wrote an essay for the Washington Post.

What’s appropriate for kids to read? There’s value in exposing them to the tough stuff. Click here to read.

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From the Chicago Tribune: 'Hey, Kiddo': Jarrett Krosoczka's arresting graphic memoir of addiction leads young-adult roundup

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Ahead of the National Book Awards, Literary Hub is checking in with all of the finalists.

I'm up today. Click here to read. 

Hey, Kiddo Ink Washes

When I told my art director that I wouldn’t be hiring an assistant to help shade HEY, KIDDO, he was nervous. Rightfully so—how would I ever make the deadline? When I told him I’d be using traditional materials and not digital brushes, he thought I was crazy. Rightfully so. I love digital tools, but there is something very unpredictable when you mix ink with water. Depending on the ratios, you get very different effects. Plus, with some of the intense emotional scenes, I didn’t want to be in full control of what happened on the page, just as I wasn’t in full control in those real-life moments. So for every page of linework, there is a page of ink washes. And yes, they were merged together using digital tools. And my studio assistant, Sam, helped with scanning and file prep. It was still a monumental effort, and I am glad that I stuck with my vision.
Here are some of the ink-wash pages. Perhaps you’ll recognize the scenes.