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A review by moonyreadsbystarlight
How to They/Them: A Visual Guide to Nonbinary Pronouns and the World of Gender Fluidity by Stuart Getty
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.75
This has an incredible amount of useful information as a primer for folks who are not familiar with nonbinary people and they/them pronoun usage. I definitely do not want to disregard the fact that this information is important and well-articulated. They go into so much history, but not in a way that takes too long or goes into some less relevant areas (I know it can be hard to cut out things that feel important even though they're tangential!). I also think that the way they use their own experience works really well for the writing style that they have. It also makes the topic seem a lot less heavy, which can be really important for an intro book like this.
However, I did have a couple of issues with the text. The main one was audience. The book is very informal and full of jokes and humor. I would assume that this would be more middle grade or on the younger side of YA. But, there is some information that seems geared towards adults (such as how to talk to kids about they/them pronouns and how to use gender neutral language in the workplace), as well as some sexual jokes that are toeing the line of inappropriate for the younger group that I assumed the book was for. I think that the humor would make it harder for adults to take seriously, which is a shame because the information is so important.
A couple of smaller points: there are also a few times where they used "they" as a placeholder for "nonbinary" or "people who use they" which might be confusing for some people, and I would have liked to see some acknowledgement that some nonbinary people use "she" or "he" a bit earlier on (it is mentioned but only once and a decent way through the book).
All of that being said, I still think this book is a great resource. I would recommend it, probably for teens and parents. I know I critiqued the fact that I was unclear about the audience, but the way that it ended up being written lends itself well to a parent/child buddy read, which is really great.
I was given an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
However, I did have a couple of issues with the text. The main one was audience. The book is very informal and full of jokes and humor. I would assume that this would be more middle grade or on the younger side of YA. But, there is some information that seems geared towards adults (such as how to talk to kids about they/them pronouns and how to use gender neutral language in the workplace), as well as some sexual jokes that are toeing the line of inappropriate for the younger group that I assumed the book was for. I think that the humor would make it harder for adults to take seriously, which is a shame because the information is so important.
A couple of smaller points: there are also a few times where they used "they" as a placeholder for "nonbinary" or "people who use they" which might be confusing for some people, and I would have liked to see some acknowledgement that some nonbinary people use "she" or "he" a bit earlier on (it is mentioned but only once and a decent way through the book).
All of that being said, I still think this book is a great resource. I would recommend it, probably for teens and parents. I know I critiqued the fact that I was unclear about the audience, but the way that it ended up being written lends itself well to a parent/child buddy read, which is really great.
I was given an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.