Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American

Bibliography: Gao, L. (2022). Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American. Harper Alley, Balzer + Bray, imprints of HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-06-306777-6

Plot Summary: This graphic novel is an autobiography of sorts, and tells the author's story of growing up as a Chinese American during Covid. The novel follows her as she tries to discover her own identity growing up in a traditional Chinese household, but born American.

Critical Analysis: The book does a great job of showing the author’s struggle with finding her identity

as an Asian-American and a lesbian. Though born in Wuhan, she did most of her growing up in the U.S.

She depicts the strangeness an immigrant faces in an enlightening way. Her writing style and tone are

clearly that of a frustrated teenager, a feeling many young adults from anywhere can relate to.  Gao

uses a very simple color palette- black and white, shades of blue, yellow and red and the style is

classic comic book. Most of the book, she dresses herself in a red shirt, which naturally draws the eye,

and may depict how she felt frequently singled out. The title itself is clever, as she is a person of two

countries, her roots are “messy” as she is trying to figure out who she is.  A very witty book that takes on

serious issues of identity, a great read.


Reviews:


School Library Journal: “ 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.”


New York Journal of Books: “The roots are messy indeed, but the tree blossoming from them is brilliant.”


Awards:

As this book was only recently published, there may be awards in the near future. 


Connections:


Use in a high school sociology class.  Discuss how stereotypes impact all of us and how we can work to change them.


Use in a high school psychology class. Discuss the issue of identity and how our environment plays into its development. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Lion and the Mouse

  Bibliography: Pinkney, J. (2010). The Lion & the Mouse . Little, Brown & Co. ISBN 9780316013567 Plot summary  Retelling of Aesop’s fable of the same name, but without words.  The story is of a lion who comes upon a mouse and rather than eating it, lets it return to its family.  Later, when the lion is caught in a trap, the mouse returns the favor by freeing the lion from a trap.  Critical Analysis Pinkney did an amazing job of being able to tell this story without using any words. Using only illustrations, Pinkney brilliantly retells one of Aesop’s fables. The illustrations carried the entire weight of the storytelling in a very thoughtful way. The animals are illustrated realistically with great attention to detail. Color is also important as it is used to draw attention to the characters and their natural surroundings. Pinkney is also able to show the animals’ emotions in a way that is not cartoonish or too human either, holding on to their animal na...
Read more

Boy Meets Boy

         Bibl iography:  Levithan, D. (2003). Boy Meets Boy . Ember. ISBN:  9780375824005             Plot Summary: Paul is a normal high school boy in a school that's not quite normal. The cheerleaders ride motorcycles into the gym. The quarterback is a drag queen. He hates his ex-boyfriend and wants nothing more than to move on.  And when he meets Noah, he thinks he has.  But when Paul makes a stupid mistake, he needs to decide what's really important to him, and what he can do to fix things with Noah.           Critical Analysis: Regardless of sexuality, any teen reader can relate to this book.  Gossip, ex-boy/girlfriends, high school drama, a broken heart and stressed frienships are all things teenagers go through. Though the characters ethnicities are never discussed, the book still demonstrates diversity in orientation with gay, straight, bisexual and drag characters....
Read more

The Book Thief

  Bibliography:  Zusak, M. (2006). The Book Thief . Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN: 9-780375-831003 Plot Summary: Just before World War II ,  on a train ride with her mother and brother, Liesl loses her brother.  At the end of the ride, her mother leaves her with a foster family as she can no longer care for her.  This is when the book stealing starts. Often, it is the books that save her and keep her moving forward. Then she meets Rudy, a boy her age from school, and they begin stealing more than books. She soon learns that her foster parents, who she has grown to love, have a secret that she must help hide. Through all this, Death seems to follow her everywhere she goes, but somehow she survives.  Critical Analysis:  The story is narrated by Death, who is privy to all of the events of Liesl's life as he does seem to follow her. He takes almost everyone she loves.  The use of foreshadowing throughout the book is well done. When Death speaks of Hans' pendi...
Read more