How Do I Draw These Memories? - by Jonell Joshua (Hardcover)

About the Book

Jonell Joshua spent her childhood shuttling back and forth between Savannah and New Jersey -- living in grandparents' homes during the times her mother, struggling with mental illness, needed support to raise her and her brothers. Together the family found a way to keep going even in the darkest of times. How Do I Draw These Memories? is an illustrated memoir about nostalgia, faith, the preciousness of life, and unconditional love.

Book Synopsis

Jonell Joshua spent her childhood shuttling back and forth between Savannah and New Jersey - living in grandparents' homes during the times her mother, struggling with mental illness, needed support to raise her and her brothers. Together the family found a way to keep going even in the darkest of times.

How Do I Draw These Memories? is an illustrated memoir about nostalgia, faith, the preciousness of life, and unconditional love.

From Jonell's devastatingly brilliant pen as a writer and an artist, it plumbs the depths of what family can be - and how joy and hope can be found in the most ordinary and extraordinary moments.

P R A I S E

"Ingenious... a vulnerable, revealing homage to family."
--Booklist

"Despite the difficulties confronting Jonell's family, this memoir is uplifting and amazingly positive, in some ways celebrating the ordinariness of life as well as the power of unconditional love (which I hope) most experience. Readers are likely to recognize something of their own lives in this memoir."
--Reading Rockets

Review Quotes

"Despite the difficulties confronting Jonell's family, this memoir is uplifting and amazingly positive, in some ways celebrating the ordinariness of life as well as the power of unconditional love (which I hope) most experience. Readers are likely to recognize something of their own lives in this memoir."-- Reading Rockets

"An impactful... story of a family full of love, figuring out the best ways to be together while coping with mental illness. Complex in its structure and accessible through its artistry, it is a compelling sensory experience." - The Daily Heller

"An interesting pastiche of illustrative styles give How Do I Draw These Memories? a scrapbook-like feel. Jonell Joshua's artistic range is on full display in painterly full-page pieces, expertly drawn black-and-white comics and colorful, vibrant illustrations." - BookPage

"With its unique visual style, this moving graphic memoir of a Black artist and her family will appeal to readers looking for a fresh take on the memoir genre." - School Library Journal

"Ingenious... a vulnerable, revealing homage to... family." - Booklist

About the Author

Jonell Joshua found her calling for art at a young age -- precisely 2nd grade -- after she found her mother's art portfolio in the bedroom of her childhood home. Hoping to emulate her mother's talents, soon after, Jonell started drawing kid's portraits in the cafeteria during lunch. In later years she dove deeper into the arts, continuing to create in and out of school, finding ways to express herself and connect with others.

Today Jonell is an award-winning illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. Her professional work has explored a range of topics in editorial illustration and publication, including illustrating for Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real Life Tales of Black Girl Magic, The Queens of the Resistance series, and work featured in the film Selah and the Spades. She has worked with clients including The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and NPR.