Teen Book Discussion: Messy Roots

Teens ages 13 - 18 are invited to join us for a discussion of the graphic memoir Messy Roots 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. Follow her as she grapples with family expectations, culture clashes, anti-Asian racism, and coming out as a lesbian.

This discussion is part of Vermont Reads 2023. Although Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo is the book chosen for that program, we know that a 400 page novel can be daunting for some people – especially when free time to read is scarce. We chose this graphic memoir, with similar themes, to help make this program more accessible to our community. 

SBPL is grateful to Vermont Humanities for making this program possible. Thanks also to our partner organization: the Vermont Chinese School.

This book is available to borrow from the library. Book group reserve copies will be available one month ahead of the discussion.