The graphic novel I’m a Wild Seed was a book I really wanted to enjoy. After all, it is part of a new (to me) publisher where I have enjoyed and respected their message in other books read. But, while I appreciate everything Sharon Lee de la Cruz said and created, their story did not resonate with me a hundred percent.
I am starting off with, I thought de la Cruz identified as They, but the author biography (and praise of the book) does say She when talking about the work and accomplishments. Therefore, I am going on the side of caution and use They or de la Cruz.
And that starts the tone of the book. They explore being Queer, the ideas of freedom, being yourself and all the in between. They start the book off with the answer to the question of what freedom means to them as a person of color. And that is: nobody is free until all black transgender women are safe and free. And they follow that idea of freedom. Their journey took them through the world shaped by the white patriarchy. Yet, they were able to find themselves within the walls of the white educational institutions, the images of media throw out (the idea of beauty and “should”), and the status quo. They explore the ideas of stereotypes, safe zones, how the past and future are not just one after the other, but how they are intertwined. We peek at the Stonewall Riots; we see how people learn and create themselves within their own language; and what it means to be truly free. And maybe most importantly, they define what queerness means to them, and how their definition could help others.
Coming later in life to understanding this (they were almost in their 30s before really naming it) and having to “come out” a little bit every day (though they never had a big “Coming Out Party” just the everyday ways of doing it, little here, little there, as they felt safe, or knew something needed to be said), their interpretation of things might be different from others, but that is not a bad thing. Coming later to yourself can help you find your true self. Afterall, the experiences of you have faced helps you and allows you to have the language to speak, if only to yourself.
And I can understand that. I was much older coming into myself, and I have learned, I am never going to stop learning what that means. And seeing de la Cruz coming to know themselves was the part I appreciated the most. But I think the two issues I had that did not make this book and OMG!! book, but a Nice book, is the fact that de la Cruz bounces around talking about the highlights of their story. I think I wanted more; to go a little deeper. And then there are the illustrations. The main issue I had with them regardless of de la Cruz’s biological age, they always looked like they were about eight years old. The colors fit the tone of the story, in fact, make the story, but even the brighter colors were dark. I think they are considered Earth Tones, but sometimes felt muddy. And the lack of details was both a plus and minus. The plus being they helped take a serious story and give it a little levity by not really giving you things to “bog the reading down” but it almost made this serious story feel too light and fluffy.
I know most people think a score of 3 is not good, but to me, that means a solid book with potential. It has things I liked, things I would not have done, and things that I know did not work for me but will for others. The three is for me, but if I am honest, it is a 3.5 as it is not for everyone, but I think (hope) everyone can appreciate it. I might not have loved this one, but I am keeping the author on my radar and want to read more.