I love how informative, educational, and eye-opening this book is. The author's words are crisp and to the point while also being witty in places. They talk about a lot of important details related to non-binary pronouns, including descriptions of genders, identities, and non-conformation to both. It's an important book that I hope more people will read, especially if they're intent on learning.

P.S. The formatting on this e-ARC was all over the place. Would be something to look into. :)

How to They/Them by Stuart Getty is another book I got to read before its release thanks to NetGalley! It’s a nonfiction, easy to read book about nonbinary, genderqueer and GNC identities, and mostly about they/them pronouns. Once this comes out, I’m referring everyone I know (and come out as genderqueer/n-b/Not A Girl to) to it because it’s such a fantastic resource. It’s a great introduction to they/them pronouns and nonbinary identities for beginners. Also, it has pictures and is very lighthearted which made it so fun to get through!

Sometimes I felt as though it was oversimplifying some concepts, or presenting things in a very palatable way to cis people (often equating “they” with being nonbinary). I think this is because 1) it’s a book about they/them pronouns, and 2) its target audience is people new to the subject. I would’ve liked just a bit more elaboration, but it’s a good place to start. I also didn’t like how sexuality was explained/defined ie. pansexual was defined as gender blind, which is a bit ableist; sexuality was defined in terms of the sex(es) one is attracted to rather than the gender(s). I also felt weird about the author describing themselves as multiple slurs. Slurs and who can reclaim them is definitely a topic of contention in the LGBTQ+ community (and not a topic of discourse I want to bring up right now so I’ll keep it general), and I just feel like it wasn’t a necessary addition to the book.

However, I really loved how there was a section addressing how to talk to children about pronouns: how to explain they/them pronouns to kids, to your own children, and how to approach pronouns as a teacher with young students (hint: don’t put kids on the spot). I think even giving this book to older kids/teens would be really helpful. Also, apparently there have been gender-neutral pronouns in English beyond “they” since the 1700s when an economist proposed the use of “ou”, and in the 1800s someone proposed “thon”— how cool is that?

I wish I had this kind of book when I was growing up. As someone who uses both they/them pronouns along with she/her (and wishes people use they/them more for me, please!), reading this book and the way Getty describes their feelings made me feel so seen. Getty is a genderqueer sapphic, too, which just made me feel extra soft and fuzzy inside, like a warm hug. It makes me feel safe to know that even if other people (aka cis people) don’t understand me or my identity, that my experience is still very much real and that there are people out there who do understand. Seeing some of your most complicated feelings being put into words by someone else— someone who doesn’t even know me— makes me feel real and whole.

CW: transphobia, cisheteronormativity, nudity, homophobic/lesbophobic/transphobic slurs

I LOVE that educational graphic novels like this are becoming more and more popular! This book is all about people who use they/them pronouns. Stuart starts with their own personal story. It's a great way to introduce the subject matter.

The art is simple and matches the material well. There's a great mix of definitions, context, and conversation. There's humor along with the frustrations of living in a society that needs more empathy.

Some famous people who use they/them pronouns are featured. There's a guide on how to be a good ally as well as a guide for people who use they/them pronouns on how best to deal with certain situations. The book ends with a list of resources, both call lines and websites.

I absolutely love this book. You should buy this book and share it with all of your friends, family, and colleagues! I give this book a 5/5.

I found this book to be very informative. I did know a little about the topic but it still had stuff to teach me and i really enjoyed it. Since i recently met a group of people who use they to define themselves now i feel like i can talk to many of them more freely and comfortably.
I will be publishing a review for the book when it is releasing.

This was a great little guide to using they/they pronouns. After reading a fictional book where one of the characters used they/they I felt super confused and thought 'How to They/Them' would be perfect for me - and I was right!
I really enjoyed the humour, quirky illustrations and how the author shared their own story. I would definitely recommend this book to all and would be useful to most people I think!

3.75/5 Stars

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.

I found this to be an excellent and important guide for anyone who wants to learn more about pronouns and gender identity. It’s really accessible in how straightforward it is, tackles it all with humor and how visual it is. I think it also works as a good reference book to just have on hand. It’s also a very quick read. I can’t recommend it enough.

The eARC had some formatting issues that had jumbled up some of the text, but I got the idea of what the author had intended with the illustrations and visual aspect of it. And I think it will work really well in the final copy. I fully intend on buying myself a copy when it’s out!

As an educator who would like to be more inclusive of my non-binary students, this was a rewarding read. I would strongly encourage this to other educations who aim to be more inclusive both within and outside the classroom. A straightforward and simple read, with good takeaways!

I requested this book primarily because I'm looking for accessible information for my mother, as I recently came out to her as nonbinary and asked her to use they/them (which is proving... difficult). I'm not 100% sure this will work for that, but it is a fabulous humorous resource for younger folks - it seemed aimed at a millennial / gen z audience.

The arc had some major formatting issues on my kindle which rendered parts of the text unreadable -- hopefully, they will get cleared up before publication. Once I accessed it on the netgalley shelf app, I did like the way the text is interspersed with illustrations. It makes it feel more accessible.

I didn't encounter much that I didn't already know from my own research, but there were a few new tidbits. For someone just being introduced to the concept of nonbinary people and they/them pronouns, I think it's a fabulous guide. I also really enjoyed the humor - but then, I'm a millennial. I'm not sure it would jive with an older audience. I do really appreciate that it definitely doesn't give off a scholarly vibe because that can scare people new to the topic away.

How to they/them was a really well thought out book! I really enjoyed the content and found it educational and diverse in content. I think it was written in a way that was extremely thoughtful and yet simple enough to be accessible to a wide range of individuals, which I think is an incredibly important aspect of this book. The only draw back I found was that due to the ebook format, some of the graphics and content didn’t seem to match up as they should, however this shouldn’t be a problem for physical copies.

#NormalizePronouns
This is something that I have actively been trying to do over the past year, including trying to change the habits of friends, family members, and new people that I meet. This is such a lovely, fun, and funny resource that I will be able to direct them toward.

How to They/Them is a great book to help explain and to educate gender fluidity - I might even call it "Gender Fluidity for Dummies (like me!)". I learned a lot about the do's and don'ts of using they/them and the history of gender neutral pronouns in the English language. How to They/Them also provides advice for people who may not be familiar or comfortable with the usage of those pronouns. The succinct concepts are accessible, easy to understand, the graphic presentation is effective, and I am more enriched because of it!

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

I learned a lot from this comprehensive primer on gender fluidity and the correct use of pronouns. I would have liked the illuminating sections on the history of this topic presented first up, rather than later in the book - however that's more personal preference than criticism. The tips on how to address others in a respectful way were well-explained and easy to digest and I would recommend "How to They/Them" to anyone struggling with this topic.

I thought I had posted this already? I guess not- I really enjoyed this book, Stuart does an excellent job of explaining they/them and the drawings that go with the story are fun too. I'd recommend this for everyone to read to get a better understanding/introduction into pronouns. It's easily read and digestible, and may be a good conversation starter to bring up w/ others in your life.

Stuart Getty's 'How to They/Them' is a fun, concise, sometimes witty primer on the use of the singular 'they', its history, and some associated identities. I think there are a lot of readers that could benefit from reading this, and the cute drawings add a lot of enjoyment.

I think Getty has done a great job of breaking down some of the aspects that can be confusing to some, and I am grateful that they opened up about their own story and identity so that others can learn. I especially liked the history of non-binary identities and vocabulary, and feel that it was just the right length.

Note: I received a free eBook copy of 'How to They/Them' in exchange for an honest review.

This Non-Fiction was everything I wanted it to be, but nothing more. In it Stuart Getty gives a nice introduction to the world of gender fluidity.
They start from square one with the important information on the difference between “The Big Three”: Sex Assigned at Birth, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation. This was a good way to start because this differentiation is where the difficulties in understanding this entire concept usually originate. I thought, it was quite easy to follow because Getty didn’t concern themself with going into too much detail at once. The pages are structured in a way that they don’t contain too much text and are accompanied by cute little illustrations that sometimes furthered the point and sometime just made me smile. In general, it kind of felt like a picture book for children and I was enjoying myself immensely reading it, even though sometimes the book felt a bit condescending (e.g. pretty much in the beginning it says: “Try it together now: T H + E Y. It’s literally that easy. For your mouth. But your brain – well, that’s a little harder. Don’t worry. I got you.”) Those who are picking up this book probably already want to educate themselves and being treated as if I was too dumb to even say the word “they” sort of peeved me.
Anyway, Getty continues with a chapter about the grammar of using nonbinary pronouns, which was what I was most interested in, because I wasn’t too sure, in which way they were supposed to be used: Do you say “they is…” or “they are…”? Do you say “they looked at themself…” or “they looked at themselves…”? After reading this book those questions are definitely answered, so I’m glad I was given the chance to educate myself.
After those general facts, in the last chapter Getty got into talking about some other “fun stuff (and some not-fun stuff)” like the history of the pronoun “they”, “things that suck for GNC folks” and some tips on what to do if someone is using the wrong pronouns etc. I liked that part as well, since it gives some practical advice on how to react if you get to know somebody from the queer community.
So, like I said, the book did what I expected it to do – and it is really important that books like this exist to educate people in an easy and accessible way – but I didn’t always love its execution. Also, while the linguistic part of this was quite interesting, unfortunately my native language isn’t English, so that I’m not quite sure if I will ever get the chance to actually apply my knowledge. I’ll just have to do my best to transfer it to my native language.

This was a quick read but absolutely packed with valuable information. I loved it! The tone is super-friendly, and the author and illustrator are coming from a place of love and generosity, not judgment. There are etiquette tips (including how to apologize when you get the lingo wrong). There are suggestions for how we should all go forward and make the world safe and hospitable for humans of any gender identity. There is a fascinating section about non-binary identities throughout history, all over the world. I, too, want to live in a world where the TSA is not punching a pink button or blue button that tells the machine which part of our anatomies it should scan. How creepy.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this copy to review.

Representation: Genderqueer author, all about nonbinary pronouns

This book gives an easy to follow guide for using they/them pronouns, like it says in the title. This book does that, but it also talks about gender expression, the freedom to identify how you want, all along with funny visuals. I want to be clear on that part, this is not a graphic novel. Images are accompanied with blocks of text (similar to how Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker and Julia Scheele is written). Getty is genderqueer and uses they/them personally.

Rating: 4/5 My initial rating was a three out of five stars for a few reasons, but I later changed it to a four. One was just personal, I didn’t really learn anything reading this. After thinking about it, I realized that’s not a fair rating because this is a subject I know well. I use they pronouns myself, so I already have this knowledge. Another reason why I initially gave a lower rating was that when I finished, I was a little frustrated and disappointed because the formatting is HORRIBLE. I understand that this is an ARC, so things likely aren’t completely final yet. It’s also an ebook, and that can sometimes contribute to formatting problems, especially when there are a lot of images throughout the text. However, I could also tell some of the unusual formatting was intentional, which is fine! I just struggled to separate what was intentional and what wasn’t, and it was very frustrating to follow the text sometimes. I’m sure the final version will look better than the copy I read, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is wanting to understand they/them pronouns more. I think I might be ordering a physical copy of the final edition so I can see for myself, and so I can share with people.

I found this book on NetGalley on a perfect timing. I had already been looking for more information about nonbinary gender and terms, and found in it a great opportunity to finally fulfill this goal.

The best part of this books is that is really didatic. If you know nothing about the matter or if you have just started to do some research on the theme, this book is just perfect for you (as it was for me). But I dare say that, even if you are already more informed, it can be great to reflect on how to deal with some tricky situations, and how to explain nonbinary to people who are still either not aware of its existence, feeling difficulty to aprehend the concept, or even unwilling to open up their minds.

Also, Stuart makes it clear that it's a serious and delicate matter, that needs to be held up with respect, but their way of explaining is funny and witty, and I found myself smiling a lot during this read. The illustrations and diagramation only add to those feelings.

The concept of nonbinary matches my view and beliefs on the topic of gender, and after reading this book I definitely embraced it.

I want to thank NetGalley, the authors and the publishers for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

The dates for All the Books have shifted, and this book is no longer eligible for me to review on the podcast, so I wasn't able to finish/review it.