Messy Roots is a graphic novel memoir by Laura Gao, who was born in Wuhan and grew up in Texas. With the global pandemic making her childhood home a household name, this memoir follows Laura as she immigrates to America as a young child, with her family. She experiences the culture shock, and the desire to fit in. In Messy Roots, she illustrates her journey at finding her own identity while feeling like she doesn’t quite belong completely in either city.
When Harper Collins featured this book during their Spring preview, it immediately caught my interest. I enjoy graphic novels and, being a Chinese-Canadian, thought that this story would be pretty relatable. While I was born in Canada and not in Asia, I found so many aspects of Laura’s story to resonate deeply with me. In 1997, when the British was handing Hong Kong back over to China, there was an influx of immigration into Canada and other countries. So even though my town eventually became more diverse during this period, there was not that much Asian representation at first and the feelings and experiences of wanting to fit in that Laura documents were reminiscent of those days. The culture shock that Laura experienced between her two homes also resonated with me. Growing up, where it’s like I’m not “Asian” enough around family and elders because I was born here, but “too Asian” around the predominantly Caucasian schoolmates.
This was such a relatable story – especially for immigrants or children of immigrants to potentially feel seen. I think it would really helps everyone understand that regardless of where you come from, there are many shared experiences with all of us. And to hopefully help everyone get back a bit of empathy for all.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5 /5 stars)
Available: March 8, 2022
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A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
JUST A LIL LOST 