Just The Basics
Published April 23rd 2024
Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir
Pages: 216
Acknowledgements: CYBILS Award Nominee for Young Adult Graphic Novels (2024), YALSA Award Nominee for Excellence in Nonfiction (2025)
"Homebody" is a graphic memoir, where author and illustrator Theo Parish enshrines their journey of gender-self-discovery, spanning from their childhood into young adulthood. This memoir lovingly holds the readers hand as Parish not only tells of their own journey to coming out as gay and nonbinary, but also what being nonbinary means, what being transgender means, and what dead-naming is. The extended metaphor of this work is Theo's journey through the wood of gender dysphoria to eventually find their home: "coming home to myself, wherever that may be" (pg. 24-25). Through cosplay, tabletop games, and by building a beautiful queer community around them, Theo is able to mold their identity as an AFAB child to the truest version of themselves while always honoring who they were. While the actual story of the memoir takes place in London, Parish's work navigates their interior turmoil throughout their coming-of-age. This book, both in its heart warming story and adorable illustrations, is a love letter to self-love through sharing the truth of one's identity. While Parish's work doesn't avoid the hardships of being gender nonconforming (both inside Parish and when dealing with the outside world), the love for themselves and their love for the LGBT community overflows from this heartwarming book.
Why "Homebody"?
I have been on my own journey of gender self discovery over the past year, myself finding comfort in the use of they/them pronouns and the nonbinary label. I have seen graphic novels tell queer stories, especially in the success of the Heartstopper series and Netflix show; however, I still think there are still far to little stories that put gender nonconformity at the forefront of the narrative (Heartstoppers has a nonbinary character, but in the side cast). Parish's art style reminded me a lot of Heartstoppers, however with a topical focus I find very important. My nonbinary identity however is not the same as Parish's, however, in Parish's own words "there is no one way to be transgender, just like there is no one way to be cisgender". Parish's voice as the narrator and their voice through their artwork and symbolism makes their journey clear, cute, fun, and oh-so charming. Their struggle with gender identity is the plot above all else, a plot that combines nonfiction and memoir in an reading experience that would be illuminating for young queer kids in general.
Teaching Considerations
"Homebody" was a very easy read, and for those kids who identify with Parish's story would probably finish this book in one sitting as I did. I think teaching this memoir would be best for kids from 8th to 9th grade, however would thematically resonate with any kid struggling with their own sexuality or gender identity. I do, however, think this book would work best as an individual read. The graphic novel format does not lend well to whole groups, but even more so I think this book is most impactful as a moment of self-reflection. From an instructional lens, I think this book would fit well in a unit about gender identity, sexuality, or even a unit on self-acceptance and self-love. One of the immense powers of this book is its radical optimism. Parish emphasizes the freedom in exploring one's gender identity, the freedom to make decisions with the freedom to unmake them, to play and explore one's self without feeling the need to look inward with finality.
Selections to Highlight
- Pages 130-157 (Theo's first pride, their time coming out)
- Pages 161-196 (How Theo chose their name)
Overall Thoughts
Being transgender, or being nonbinary, are new to the collective lexicon. "Homebody" educates and highlights the experiences of queer individuals in a way that makes me wish this book was published ten years ago. This book is not only wholesome, but its cute, optimistic, and impactful in its radical joy. Instead of focusing on the hardship queer individuals face, this memoir focuses on the power of self-exploration, the love of building community, and the power of language in being nonbinary. This book puts attention on the macro-aspects of being genderfluid, instead of staying in gritty realism. The extended metaphor of "coming home to yourself" is as easy to understand as it is universal, even to those who are cisgender. All highlighted by Parish's soft-around-the-edges art style, this books is both a love letter to queerness as well as an open invitation for those who identify with Parish to start their own journey of discovering how to best decorate their "homes" to make themselves feel authentic and true.
Future Explorations
This book give me hope more literature will come out about being nonbinary (pun intended). I think works like this work to normalize being nonbinary in an important way to adolescent readers. Parish mentions multiple times that sometimes being nonbinary can seem like a trend because the language is so new. While LGBT YA works are on the rise, I think its important to give specific attention to each letter in the acronym. In the future I am excited to explore works that deal with the details of queerness. Especially in the form of graphic novels, I think symbolic and metaphorical themes of self discovery can be even more powerful visually. This book is an impressive crossroads of LGBT memoir, graphic novel, and coming-of-age story, that I think should be celebrated in the YA category.
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