MESSY ROOTS

A Chinese American woman from Wuhan examines her multifaceted identity.

This autobiographical account opens in San Francisco in January 2020. Responding to xenophobic and racist attitudes brewing among sectors of American society as the Covid-19 virus spreads, the narrator recalls the Wuhan she knew as 3-year-old Yuyang, “with no internet and too much energy.” Comical sketches illustrate romps through rural landscapes with cousins and visits with her urban-dwelling grandparents, who nourished her with stories and food, before she is launched into the “strange, new world” of Texas. Yuyang celebrates her symbolic arrival as an American when her mother renames her Laura after the then–first lady. The narrative overlays immigrant community dynamics with the intersections of race, ethnicity, and gender in young adults’ identity development while drawing on Chinese cultural icons old and new, such as White Rabbit candies. Most compelling is Gao’s retelling of the legend of moon goddess Chang’e, who is able to “escape her suffocating home”—something Gao manages by attending college in a faraway state and encountering a diverse student body beyond the “white-washed” conformity of her high school. Gao comes out as queer and embraces her tangled roots as she continues writing her life story with pride and confidence. The dynamic, clean, and energetic artwork colored in soft tones features bold linework and ample white space. Splashes of red emphasize the emotional impact of many scenes.

A nuanced representation of being Asian and transnational in the contemporary U.S.