9-year old Jay Jay Patton was pretty young when her father Antoine was sent to prison at the age of 20 for possession of a deadly weapon for 8 years. It was tricky for her mother to bring both her and her little brother to visit frequently or call collect, so Jay Jay and Antoine stayed connected over the years by writing each other letters.
As Jay Jay grew up and told Antoine about all the things she was learning at school, Antoine told her about what he was learning – coding. Jay Jay, was immediately intrigued, so it’s no wonder she immediately took to coding when her father returned and showed her “Photo Patch” – the website he was creating that would give children the chance to stay connected with their incarcerated parents.
Jay Jay, a budding pre-teen coder, was inspired to start using her newfound skills to develop an application to go along with her father’s website. Together, they developed an application that has kept families whole and connected in ways that felt impossible before, because as Jay Jay says, “it’s not a privilege for a kid to be able to talk to their parent. It’s a right.”
Illustrator: Markia Jenai
Colorist: Brittney Williams
Letterer: Jesse Post
Compositor: Veronica Mang
Cover/Title Treatment Design: Salena Mahina
Editorial: Michael Petranek
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
