 Hey, folks, I'm Laura Gao. I am the illustrator and author of Messy Roots Here, my graphic memoir about being a Wuhan East American immigrant who immigrated from Wuhan, China with my family, grew up in a small town in Texas, and then ended up here in San Francisco, where I am today at the Main Library. This book interweaves stories about current COVID where Wuhan, which, as you may have known, is my hometown, and it was in the news for COVID, was being bashed by media and how that influenced anti-Asian racism, but also combining that with stories of love and happiness and family with the cousins and relatives I grew up with in Wuhan, China, and how much we love to ride a water buffalo on our grandparents' farm and eat amazing Chinese snacks and candy. But of course, after immigrating, it was such a hard process of trying to figure out how American or how Chinese can I be here in Texas, and also reconciling that with later on in adult life, the anti-Asian racism happening during COVID. And ultimately, this is a love letter not only to Wuhan, but all the kids out there who feel like they don't fit in, because they are a immigrant or they are some ethnicity or that they are queer like I am, but I want you to find your roar and your inner beast like I did here in this book and be able to live unapologically loud and be who you are no matter how messy your roots are. So I hope you enjoy this book. Thank you.