Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American

In Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American, author-illustrator Laura Gao blends humor and heart to recount her journey from Wuhan, China, to Texas, navigating the complexities of identity, family, and belonging. Published by HarperCollins in 2022, this single-issue graphic memoir captures the experience of growing up as a Wuhanese American against the backdrop of cultural displacement and the COVID-19 pandemic's wave of anti-Asian sentiment. Gao’s warm, expressive art and candid storytelling make this a resonant, deeply personal work that explores what it means to forge a home between two worlds.