#messy roots

[estelleslibrary]

Books my grandma gifted me for my birthday!! Love her

[melonreads]

i left my bookstore!!!!! moved to another one so i could have a higher position - i’ll miss my old one so much :’( ofc i had to leave em with a big haul in hand

[sapphicbookoftheday]

Messy Roots by Laura Gao

Today's sapphic book of the day is Messy Roots by Laura Gao!

Summary: "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 makes Wuhan a household name.

In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.

Insightful, original, and hilarious, toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao's debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling."

[richincolor]

Jessica’s 2022 Favorites

It's been a fantastic year for YA, but now that the year is wrapping up, all of us at Rich in Color will be picking our favorites of the year. Of course, that's always difficult -- they're all so good! -- and this year is no exception. At the very top of my list of YA reads for 2022 are two YA novels and one YA graphic memoir, all of which I consider must-reads. Check them out:

A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea #1) by Judy I. Lin

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.

When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life.

But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.

Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American by 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 makes Wuhan a household name. In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.

Insightful, original, and hilarious, toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao's debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling.

What Souls Are Made Of by Tasha Suri

As the abandoned son of a Lascar—a sailor from India—Heathcliff has spent most of his young life maligned as an “outsider.” Now he’s been flung into an alien life in the Yorkshire moors, where he clings to his birth father’s language even though it makes the children of the house call him an animal, and the maids claim he speaks gibberish.

Catherine is the younger child of the estate’s owner, a daughter with light skin and brown curls and a mother that nobody talks about. Her father is grooming her for a place in proper society, and that’s all that matters. Catherine knows she must mold herself into someone pretty and good and marriageable, even though it might destroy her spirit. As they occasionally flee into the moors to escape judgment and share the half-remembered language of their unknown kin, Catherine and Heathcliff come to find solace in each other. Deep down in their souls, they can feel they are the same.

But when Catherine’s father dies and the household’s treatment of Heathcliff only grows more cruel, their relationship becomes strained and threatens to unravel. For how can they ever be together, when loving each other—and indeed, loving themselves—is as good as throwing themselves into poverty and death?

[readingwithcryptids]

I’ve been feeling pretty down lately so I went on a borrowing spree from my local library! Books may not be able to fix the stressors in my life, but a little rest and distraction never hurt anyone.

[richincolor]

Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American by Laura Gao

"Messy Roots is a laugh-out-loud, heartfelt, and deeply engaging story of their journey to find themself--as an American, as the daughter of Chinese immigrants, as a queer person, and as a Wuhanese American in the middle of a pandemic."--Malaka Gharib, author of I Was Their American Dream

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 makes Wuhan a household name. In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.

Insightful, original, and hilarious, toggling seamlessly between past and present, China and America, Gao's debut is a tour de force of graphic storytelling.  

Review: I was on a walk the other day, when I passed a bookstore window that featured a wall of copies of Messy Roots. I snapped a picture and texted it to my friend, telling her that she had to read it. And that's what I'm about to tell you.

Messy Roots is a graphic memoir that follows Laura Gao as she grows up in Wuhan, China, moves to Texas, and eventually college. Along the way, her relationship with her roots and her identity grow and change. The title is apt in more ways than one.

The illustrations are gorgeous and vividly rendered, bringing to life Laura's distant and recent past. She brings to the foreground her early childhood in Wuhan, showing the Wuhan that she knew as a child, one that has been cast in a different light during the pandemic. As a child of Taiwanese immigrants raised on Ranch 99 snacks and Chinese potlucks, my absolute favorite part of this graphic memoir was, naturally, the food -- the familiar and mouthwatering dishes, and how they played a key role in the story. It made me want to go out and buy a bag of White Rabbit candy right away.

Messy Roots is a beautiful and skillfully delivered memoir. It's a must-read for just about everyone, but I think it'll especially resonate with queer children of immigrants. While our experiences are many and varied, I felt a tug of familiarity and comfort at seeing Laura's journey, and how she navigated her relationship with her loved ones. That, above all else, is what made Messy Roots special to me. I hope you'll pick up and read it.

Recommendation: Buy it now!

[dandeli0nhands12]

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Middle School Monday: Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao 

This graphic-format memoir opens with a lot of energy and emotion, as a 3-year-old girl named Yuyang is taking a wild ride on a water buffalo with her cousins and finding even more ways to get in trouble with their family. She is grown now, reflecting back on her childhood in rural Wuhan, China, a place that most of us never heard of until it made headlines around the world in 2020.

When Yuyang and her parents move to America, her life is turned upside down as she tries and fails to fit into a new country while also trying to keep up with her family’s expectations. She wrestles with understanding this new language and understanding how American kids think. She wants to fit in with other kids her age, and she also wants her own American dream. She takes a new American name (Laura, after first lady Laura Bush), and focuses on basketball to help her fit in. By the time she gets to college, she moves further down the road of self-acceptance, understanding and embracing her sexual identity, her role within her family, her life as an artist, and her identity as a Wuhanese American.

Give this book to older kids and teens who enjoy true stories about diverse characters, family problems, and creative types. It would also be a great choice for fans of Gene Luen Yang’s groundbreaking graphic novel American Born Chinese, which we see Laura reading in this book!