Theo's Guide to Being a Guy

Award-winning author Kacen Callender’s debut graphic novel about how there’s no one way to showcase one’s gender identity

Being a man is hard, and no one knows that better than 18-year-old Theo Page. Having just moved in with his friends, Theo is having a difficult time fitting in. He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, his friend Maya is going off to college soon, and that leaves him alone with the rest of their friends of cis gay men who don’t seem to understand Theo and his gender identity. Misgendered by his crush, friends, and the world around him, Theo creates a rulebook on how to be a true “guy”: guys don’t cross their legs, guys don’t wear makeup or dresses, guys don’t tie people down. There’s a lot of rules, but Theo’s determined to follow each and every one.

That is, until he meets Quinn, his cute coworker who is very much a guy and breaks the rules Theo has so carefully mapped out. Between his crush and Quinn, Theo is left running in circles and trying to figure out—is there really one true way to being a guy?

With artist Teo H. DuVall, Stonewall and Lambda Literary Award–winning author Kacen Callender crafts a heartfelt graphic novel about fighting toxic masculinity, self-acceptance, and self-love in defiance of those who refuse to understand you.