Ruth Chan’s “earnest, funny, and evocative” graphic memoir Uprooted: A Memoir About What Happens When Your Family Moves Back (Roaring Brook Press, Sept. 10) has the potential to plant a seed, according to young readers’ editor Mahnaz Dar: “It’s the kind of story that will make kids want to draw their own life experiences,” she says. Chan answered questions via email for Kirkus’ coverage of the Best Middle-Grade Books of 2024.

Uprooted tells the story of your family’s move from Canada to Hong Kong in 1993, when you were 13, as well as the story of your father’s birth in China, in 1944, when his family was on the run from the Second Sino-Japanese War. How did you decide to tell these stories in tandem?

I was thinking about family history and what we could pass down to our future child (who is now a real child!). I remembered how my cousins and I would gather at our grandmother’s feet as she told us the story of my father’s birth and the values of courage, patience, and perseverance. I also thought about how my father told me this same story when I was 13 during my own “uprootedness.” It struck me as a very beautiful connection to my family history, and I wanted to honor these values by making something timeless and shareable. A graphic novel that wove two stories and three generations together seemed like the perfect fit.

How did you decide to tell these stories in this medium?

I think graphic novels offer so many fantastic possibilities in how a story can be told. There’s the text, there’s the image, and then there’s what you do with the text and image together. Depending on how you arrange them, there’s so much opportunity to imbue the story with emotion. You can slow scenes down or make them quiet or chaotic, and all of it contributes to fully immersing the reader in the story and what the characters are feeling or learning. Something in me told me Uprooted could only be told sufficiently through this medium.

How would you describe your style of illustration in this book?

To be honest, when I first started this book, I was very nervous. Not only did I need to draw real people who would eventually read this book and see themselves in it, but almost all my past books have featured animal characters. I just wasn’t very comfortable drawing people! If I were to describe my style of illustration, it would be “the best that I can do.” And that’s really what any of us can strive for in telling our own story, no matter what age or level of expertise you have.

What inspired you during the writing/drawing of Uprooted?

I actually didn’t read other graphic novels or memoirs while I worked on Uprooted because I wanted to be able to trust my own approach to voice and visual storytelling. I read my (cringeworthy) diary as inspiration, looked at old photos, and reminisced about “the ol’ days” with friends and family who are in the book. And while I worked, I listened to a lot of fiction audio books.

How did you celebrate publication day?

I celebrated the best way possible: at schools with hundreds of children! I was on book tour, and it was so fun to see the students’ reactions to learning that they were some of the first to ever read the book. I also treated myself to a steak dinner and went to bed early.

What’s one of your favorite books of 2024?

We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang.

Megan Labrise is the editor at large and host of Kirkus’ Fully Booked podcast.