An insightful and hilarious graphic memoir of a queer Chinese-American immigrant, from debut author-illustrator Laura Gao.
After spending her early years in Wuhan, China, riding water buffalos and devouring stinky tofu, Laura immigrates to Texas where her hometown is as foreign as Mars — at least until 2020, when COVID-19 made Wuhan a household name.
In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as a girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.
Toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao’s debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling.
Full-color illustrations.
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Gr 7 Up-In this poignant memoir, Gao conveys her love for her home country and her journey as an immigrant. Born in Wuhan, China, young Yuyang grows up surrounded by rice paddies, riding water buffalo with her mischievous cousins under the watchful eyes of her grandparents. But soon she joins her parents, who are attending graduate school in the United States, and she finds herself in a frightening, overstimulating world. Her teachers and classmates can't pronounce her name, and she drops her Chinese name for "Laura," after then-First Lady Laura Bush. Gao describes the American public school system, where she felt desperate to fit in and become the star basketball player; the University of Pennsylvania, where she was able to carve out her identity; and life as a young professional in San Francisco before circling back to Wuhan today and the specter of the COVID pandemic. Her voice is grounded yet humorous; she illustrates a more nuanced Wuhan than the one depicted in current media, while conveying the difficulty of being a part of American society yet never feeling truly at home. Underpinning her external struggles is Gao's deeper understanding of herself as she reckons with her sexual identity, eventually coming out as queer. Depicting her hometown in thick, organic brushstrokes and a warm palette, she evokes a sense of peace and beauty and a longing to return to her origins. For scenes in America, Gao relies on a muddy palette that suggests the challenges of fitting into an uncomfortable environment. VERDICT A tender story of self-acceptance that lifts the story of Wuhan beyond COVID and shines light on a region with a rich culture and history.-Elise Martinez