I’m a Wild Seed

Gr 10 Up–A powerful coming out story done in the graphic memoir format. As a queer Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Black woman, De La Cruz came to embrace her identity not just by claiming it but by decolonizing it, which required an understanding that her shame arose from internalizing racist and sexist social norms. She explains this through Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry’s discussion of an experiment in which participants sitting in a chair that was off-balance in a crooked room didn’t notice anything wrong—a metaphor that explains many Black women’s experience. The memoirist realized that she was aligning herself with wrong ideas—capitalism and white feminism. It was not an easy journey, but once she “left the room,” she cast aside shame and could experience her queerness and culture fully. De La Cruz’s art is colorful and engaging. Her images, though generally soft-edged and rounded, express a range of emotion: confusion, anger, and happiness. The handwritten appearance of the text adds intimacy to her story. Back matter with resources for readers on their own journey is a plus.