Dear Dad: Growing Up with a Parent in Prison -- and How We Stayed Connected by Jay Jay Patton, Antoine Patton , and Kiara Valdez

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I've been happy to see the surge in graphic novels the past few years because they're such a great way to tell stories that just wouldn't flow the same way in prose. They're also a great way to make stories more accessible. Nonfiction isn't always the easiest genre to take in so I'm all for anything that makes those stories more accessible. I wasn't really sure what to expect with Dear Dad but in the end it surprised me. 

Jay'aina "Jay Jay" Patton lives with her mom and brother in Buffalo, New York. Her father, Antoine has been incarcerated for a few years and they've gotten into a routine of phone calls and letters to keep in touch.  But phones calls can be expensive and not always possible and it's not always easy to receive letters. Antoine participates in a special program while in prison and learns how to code. Upon release he gets a software engineering job and the family has has to uproot their life in Buffalo to move to Florida. Antoine teaches his daughter how to code and they bond over that while developing an app called Photo Patch that makes it easier for families to share photos and letters to their incarcerated loved ones.

There aren't a lot of books out there that feature children with parents who are incarcerated and if there are it's focused on the negatives only. Books like this help destigmatize that which is especially important when we consider some of the crimes people are sitting in prison for and how they don't all hold the same weight. Kids should feel ashamed for being in that situation that's completely out of their control. And on the flip side this book can show children unfamiliar with that situation what another type of family looks like.

There's also not enough books out there that showcase good relationships between Black fathers and their daughters. Despite their situation Jay Jay and her father were able to have a relationship and though there was a lot of change to adjust to when he was released they took it in stride and found something to bond over. This book doesn't focus on the trauma surrounding the experience but instead how this family was able to flip a negative into a positive and will hopefully inspire. 

Nonfiction can often be harder to access for children once it moves in to prose for. So I appreciated this is in a format they can connect with easier and it's short and straight to the point. It can be read in one afternoon.