Author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka recently guided the Loomis Chaffee Summer Enrichment program’s graphic novel class through the process of drawing a character to convey emotions. Happy. Angry. Worried. Scared. Weary. Just a tweak of the eyebrows and the eyes can tell the story. 

Mr. Krosoczka has been telling stories through words and illustrations since he was a kid. One day, he figured he would find a publisher for his work. Rejection after rejection came his way. It didn’t deter him, though. He had every reason to be angry, worried, scared, weary, all at once.   

His first published book — Good Night, Monkey Boy — was released in 2001. Bring on that happy face. Twenty-four years later, Mr. Krosoczka has had 46 books published, and he is a New York Times bestselling author. He has written and illustrated 10 Lunch Lady graphic novels, select volumes of the Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, and Hey, Kiddo, a graphic memoir and National Book Award finalist. He also has produced, directed, and performed in audiobook adaptations of his graphic novels. The Lunch Lady series audiobook cast is headlined by Kate Flannery, who played Meredith Palmer on The Office, and children were cast for the kids’ voices. Mr. Krosoczka insisted on using kids and not adults talking like kids. He has delivered multiple Ted Talks, been a guest on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and been featured in The New York Times. 

Mr. Krosoczka spent the morning of July 16 on campus, conducting two workshops for graphic novel classes and a general session for all in the enrichment program. In one of the workshops, he was asked about the process of generating ideas. 

“You might have an idea, and you might know right away what you want to do with that idea,” he said. “You might have an idea, and you're not quite sure what to do with the idea. It might be a couple of months or a couple of years before you know what to do with that idea. So with creativity you have to be very patient. You have to create opportunities for creativity, but you cannot force it. Lunch Lady, from initial idea to when the first book was published, was eight years.” 

His graphic memoir Hey, Kiddo came out in 2018 though the idea had been brewing for years. Mr. Krosoczka was brought up by his grandparents in Worcester, Mass. On his website, www.studiojjk.com, a section on Hey, Kiddo notes, “His mom is an addict, in and out of rehab, and in and out of Jarrett's life. His father is a mystery — Jarrett doesn't know where to find him, or even what his name is.” He eventually would find his father. His mother died in 2017 before the book was published. The New York Times, in a profile, quoted Mr. Krosoczka as saying, “I think my mother was a good person who made terrible decisions.” Hey, Kiddo was a finalist in the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and won the 2019 Harvey Award for Book of the Year. It also won multiple audiobook awards. Mr. Krosoczka has established the Joseph and Shirley Krosoczka Memorial Youth Scholarships in honor of his grandparents, which fund art classes for underprivileged children in Worcester. 

It may have taken eight years for the Lunch Lady graphic novel to go from idea to publication in 2009, but Mr. Krosoczka wasted little time in making it a very popular series. By 2013 there were 10. Who can help but root for the Lunch Lady, who fights crime when not making school lunches? This superhero employs all sorts of kitchen gadgets as tools for beating back the bad guys. The series is recommended for ages 7-11.   

Nothing makes Mr. Krosoczka smile more than seeing tattered spines on Lunch Lady books in a library or kids dressed up in a Lunch Lady outfit. In his presentation to the general summer enrichment program audience, he showed visuals of the tattered spines and the kids’ costumes. This is a man who thinks through words and visuals.  

When he was in third grade, he published what he calls his first book, The Owl Who Thought He Was the Best Flyer. He still has the book, which in the back gave a brief description of the author and stated that he liked making the book. “Eight-year-old me wrote, ‘He liked making this book.’ And I loved making that book because I loved using my imagination,” Mr. Krosoczka said. He honed that imagination in part through reading a variety of comic books. He honed his writing and art skills at the Rhode Island School of Design.  

When asked how Artificial Intelligence might affect his work, he said he wasn’t really worried. 

“We authors who are traditionally published have in our contracts that we can't use AI,” he said. “The publisher wants to guarantee [it is our work]. And honestly, some authors who have used AI, even if they are self-published, they get run out of town pretty quickly. So I'm not terribly worried about AI.” 

Plus, as he said, those who do what he does for a living are “scrappy, and we adapt.” Not to mention persistent.  

“I am so grateful to be able to share my stories far and wide,” he said. 

Maybe, just maybe, the Lunch Lady takes down an out-of-control chatbot in the next edition of that series.