Perhaps the first thing I noticed about Homebody (outside of the “removal of color” and the use of color in a non-traditional fashion) was how open Theo Parish’s story was. They are not giving you the “down and dirty details” (unless you count one of the cats giving themselves a um… down there … bath) but they allow you into their world. We also are not given all the “bad things,” just honesty that they were there. The third was, how they do not use the word cisgender or cis as a “dirty word.” No, I didn’t skip two, that is the actual point of the review.
The second thing I noticed was that this is Theo Parish and their journey to understanding first, they like females and second, they are nonbinary and this is why they are not “comfortable” inside their home, or their body. This is the theme: Parish wants to “come home” and “be at home” inside themselves. And we are privileged to watch that adventure unfold. The idea is that they tried to do the “feminine thing” and it didn’t fit. They tried to mix things up and “dress more male” and that didn’t fit. And along the way they realize that the journey is not just to get to the end, but the journey from A to B. And yes, you might have a lot of things in between those points, and that’s okay.
Parish’s story is one we all can relate to. After all, are we not just looking for the place we fit? That place that makes us happy? To find the friends, family (chosen and hopefully biological) that we need? Just because Parish is transgender and nonbinary is beside the point, their journey is our journey. We are all just trying to figure it all out.
I would have been interested in seeing more of Parish’s family, but then again, this is their book about how They Came Home to Themselves. I like how they mentioned they had a “birth name” or a dead name and reference that, but it is censored for their comfort. I am always interested in the “big picture” of how we are shaped but what we are given is lovely. Sometimes, Parish might get a smidgen lofty and step out of the “story telling” mode, but it does not take away too much.
Due at the end of April 2024 I read via an online reader copy, but I would like to see the finished copy as to see how the art changed or if the color is used to express more points and not just the text saying things like their hair colors were different, but you do not see that. Or when they and a coworker are face painting pride flags for a fundraiser we can see the colors used. Still, overall things are fun and works well for most readers ages at least 12 to adult.