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Home/World: A Circumnavigation of Our Shared Earth
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Expected 6 Oct 26Eisner award–winning author Ben Hatke recounts his epic circumnavigation of the globe in Home/World, a profound graphic memoir perfect for fans of Bill Bryson.
One spring morning, Ben Hatke walked out his door and headed east, carrying a sketchbook and the audacious trust that if he journeyed long enough, the curve of the earth would bring him home again. What he met was a world more perilous and more generous than he ever imagined.
In Home/World, the Eisner Award–winning creator chronicles this circumnavigation through ink-and-watercolor pages that capture not just the sweep of continents but flickers of human a shared meal in a village, a moment of terror at a border crossing, the language of laughter breaking through babel. Hatke’s storytelling transforms the travel narrative into something urgent and immediate—a reckoning with our fractured yet resilient planet.
In an age when the world feels boundless and claustrophobic, Home/World offers not an escape, but a return. A return to wonder, to hope, to the possibility that strangers may prove kinder than we think, and to the belief that art may yet hold humanity together.
One spring morning, Ben Hatke walked out his door and headed east, carrying a sketchbook and the audacious trust that if he journeyed long enough, the curve of the earth would bring him home again. What he met was a world more perilous and more generous than he ever imagined.
In Home/World, the Eisner Award–winning creator chronicles this circumnavigation through ink-and-watercolor pages that capture not just the sweep of continents but flickers of human a shared meal in a village, a moment of terror at a border crossing, the language of laughter breaking through babel. Hatke’s storytelling transforms the travel narrative into something urgent and immediate—a reckoning with our fractured yet resilient planet.
In an age when the world feels boundless and claustrophobic, Home/World offers not an escape, but a return. A return to wonder, to hope, to the possibility that strangers may prove kinder than we think, and to the belief that art may yet hold humanity together.
384 pages, Paperback
Expected publication October 6, 2026
About the author
Ben Hatke
59 books1,227 followersBen Hatke is an author and illustrator of graphic novels and picture books. Most notably he is the creator of the Zita the Spacegirl graphic novel series.
He posts art and stories online at:
www.benhatke.com
He posts art and stories online at:
www.benhatke.com
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 16, 2026
Review of advanced copy received from NetGalley.
A beautiful book with surprising depth. I loved how Ben visually depicts his own doubts and fears. Ben shares the beautiful, funny, and scary moments of the trip with amazing clarity through his artwork. There is a good dash of whimsy, with Ben’s imagined conversations with historical globe circumnavigators who act as guides along his journey. Reading this as a child of international workers, parts of it felt painfully real. In the end we get beautiful lyrical drawings that are at times simple yet always stunning, emotional moments that nearly brought tears to my eyes, and a profound sense of gratitude for adventure, but mostly for family, friends, and home.
Thank you to NetGalley and First Second books for the ARC.
A beautiful book with surprising depth. I loved how Ben visually depicts his own doubts and fears. Ben shares the beautiful, funny, and scary moments of the trip with amazing clarity through his artwork. There is a good dash of whimsy, with Ben’s imagined conversations with historical globe circumnavigators who act as guides along his journey. Reading this as a child of international workers, parts of it felt painfully real. In the end we get beautiful lyrical drawings that are at times simple yet always stunning, emotional moments that nearly brought tears to my eyes, and a profound sense of gratitude for adventure, but mostly for family, friends, and home.
Thank you to NetGalley and First Second books for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Two things struck me about this book. The first is that the author could do this trip at all, because of the support of his network, his wife, his friends, and a certain amount of disposable income. The second is that he is very privileged, which he realizes when he leaves western Europe. Suddenly, the world is not his oyster.
It is not easy to circumvent the world, these days. As he points out, a lot of the ways that people such as Nelly Blye were able to go, no longer exist. Though he did not want to use an airplane, there were certain places that did not have any other way to go from point A to point B. As he points out at one point, the only way he could have traveled in some places was if he knew someone with a private yacht.
The illustrations are stunning. The people he meets along the way are wonderful. The places he goes to are fascinating. And his privilege gets him through western Europe with no problems. It is only when he gets to the former Soviet block that he runs into full trains and places that don’t want him.
I think it is hard for Americans to understand that some places just don’t want them. That they are not welcome. But, the author just continues on as best he can.
Could anyone make this trip? No. It would be hard for most of us without friends and family behind the scenes paying the bills, and keeping the homefront. But we have the author and his travel sketches so we can imagine what it was like.
Not all the stars, for this one, but dang close. It is well worth putting in a pre-order just to see some of the great illustrations, such as the one he did of the Grand Caynon.
Thanks to Netgalley and First Second for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out on the 6th of October 2026.
It is not easy to circumvent the world, these days. As he points out, a lot of the ways that people such as Nelly Blye were able to go, no longer exist. Though he did not want to use an airplane, there were certain places that did not have any other way to go from point A to point B. As he points out at one point, the only way he could have traveled in some places was if he knew someone with a private yacht.
The illustrations are stunning. The people he meets along the way are wonderful. The places he goes to are fascinating. And his privilege gets him through western Europe with no problems. It is only when he gets to the former Soviet block that he runs into full trains and places that don’t want him.
I think it is hard for Americans to understand that some places just don’t want them. That they are not welcome. But, the author just continues on as best he can.
Could anyone make this trip? No. It would be hard for most of us without friends and family behind the scenes paying the bills, and keeping the homefront. But we have the author and his travel sketches so we can imagine what it was like.
Not all the stars, for this one, but dang close. It is well worth putting in a pre-order just to see some of the great illustrations, such as the one he did of the Grand Caynon.
Thanks to Netgalley and First Second for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out on the 6th of October 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Tell me, O Muse, of the complicated man, of the man of many ways, of the many-sided hero, of the man by long-experience tried. Tell of the man who left his home and tried to return through the back door. Tell me of the distance between home and the world and home again.
Home is (obviously) where the heart is, but hearts are homes to such variance of motive, desire, ideology, mood, and composure that Home can be a tricky thing to pin down. At base, I think we'd want to speak of home as the seat of our comfort, the place that offers us ease and safety and protection foremost. But very often too our homes feature some element or another than push us out, that push us to see what is to be seen. Put positively, we read this as the call to adventure. Put otherwise, flight.
Ben Hatke's new book is most properly the former, an answer to his decades-old affection for Nelly Bly's global circumnavigation and Verne's Around The World In 80 Days, which inspired Bly and others; but we'd be poor readers if we didn't also catch the forthright hints of the latter, an escape that gradually unveils across the course of the book.
The conceit here is that Hatke's kitchen has two doors, one facing east and one facing west. He would, very reasonably one day leave through one and, using only earthbound travel, return through the other. "I am just going outside and may be some time, only I'll really come back, I promise, and this isn't some euphemism to amplify my bravery in niceties, I hope." It is not likely a spoiler, since he's drawn this book, to reveal that he does in fact survive, though I think everyone was on tenterhooks as he passed through less certain portions of his trail.
If this book were mere travelogue, that would be one thing but it's better than that. I'm a firm believer in the idea that all biography (and especially autobiography) is a kind of fiction but that we call it nonfiction to emphasize that we hope to convey, in some manner or another, True Things that line up with life as it happened. Because of that, I'm always delighted by authors who embrace their subject with a freedom to allow more fantastical elements in. Hatke accomplishes this by liberally sprinkling appearances and conversations with spirits both historical and fictional; we take pleasure in conversations with Fogg and Passepartout, Nellie Bly, Bill Bryson, Leonardo da Vinci, Francis of Assisi, and Kenneth Graham's Sea Rat, among others. These even take part in their own conversations outside Hatke's hearing, omen of What's To Come.
One of my favorite reads last year was Rodrigo Fresán's Melvill, a kind of eschatalogical biography of Allan Melvill (father of the father of Moby-Dick) and it throws in Melvill's deathbed swoon conversations with ghosts and imaginations and fictional future histories (there is mention of a book on glaciology by Leonard Snart, whom we know as Captain Cold). In playing with these elements, Fresán takes what we know and extrapolates a True picture of Allan and breathes life into the man's life, character, and relationship to Herman. Melvill is yards better for breaking the veil, and Home/World elevates similarly. Anyone can pen a travelogue, but to be buoyed along the way by St Francis and the Sea Rat? That's the stuff. That's the ticket.
While we see Hatke's often harrowing journey buoyed by friendly ghosts made solid by his narrative imagination, even to the point of a gragantuan beautiful kaiju of a woman representing the spirit of The Trip, there is another spirit that haunts the text, this one without whimsical form. A little under five years before setting out through his kitchen door, Hatke's youngest daughter at the time was lost in a terrible accident at 4 years old.* By the time of his trip, Hatke is still weighed by unresolved grief (as if such things can find resolution). Ida doesn't get a conversational ghost—she's too important—but her presence is all throughout the book. Her grave is outside Hatke's home in Virginia, and he visits it physically at both the open and close of his adventure, but visits in other ways so much more often throughout the journey. Her presence felt throughout is both a terror and a balm and gives the book much of its weight.
This is a book about many things. It's about the size of the world, both in how it's smaller than it once was but also in how its recent fragmentation discourages exploring that size. It's about the privilege some of us swim in, unconsciously forgetting that water is wet because it's all that we know, and how good it can be to even just temporarily be stripped of those things that ease our movement through the world. It's about some of what makes Hatke mad: a) authoritarian structures and accoutrements and b) those who cannot take joy in the world around them, fearing it and retreating from it. It's about adventure and joy and uncertainty and hope.
But more than anything, Home/World is about two things:
1) Weathering grief and the undercurrent of unexamined trauma that changes what living means.
2) The constant presence of the people who love you.
Throughout the majority of Hatke's travels, he is cared for by friends and friends of friends, both present and distant. That love is overwhelming and is more striking than near any technological innovation making travel more convenient (and some of those like translation apps, online banking solutions, travel timetables, GPS and maps, etc are truly astounding additions and would have made my travels in the '90s and Aughts not nearly as horrible as they were). Seeing Hatke run into friends is a delight. Seeing him get set up by friends to meet with friendly strangers who enrich his trip is like watching the god of serendipity weave her magic.
When Hatke returns home at last, there are no suitors imposing on his hospitality, wooing his wife. There is no slaughter. Just a return to a wife and family who cherish him and have missed him. He does string a bow, though. He is home, where the love is. He is home, where he sheds at least a little of the weight at Ida's grave. He is home, where the heart is. Or at least the part of the heart that isn't The Trip, and is not the wanderer, the troubador, the scamp, the adventurer.
Home/World continues Hatke's trend toward work that features more grown-up thoughts. Those who read Reynard's Tale and Things In The Basement will be better prepared to encounter some of the hard things than those whose last encounter with Hatke was in the Zita and Mighty Jack trilogies. For my part, as much as my family values his middle grade adventures, I think this is the best we've seen from him, and I would be glad to see much more directed at this audience.
____
*Michelle and I burst with grief on the news of the accident, sitting vigil while we waited on news, bursting again when news of her passing struck. We'd lost a child ourselves several years earlier and were still grieving our own loss, but ours was still in-womb when we lost them. The comparison is nearly tawdry for although we held hopes and dreams and love, we'd never met our child. A four-year-old though, that's a fully-fledged person, someone emerged from the oblivion of infancy. A dear relationship. It may be hard for those without children to understand just what a four-year-old is. Our eldest daughter excitedly learned to read at age four so that she could read the third book of Zita The Spacegirl when it came out. My son beat Breath Of The Wild when he was four. The wonderful Japanese comic Yotsuba&! conveys what your typical four-year-old is like, and she is a joy to encounter. The loss of such a soul is incalculable to those who love her.
____
NOTE: I'd first encountered Hatke's work in the first Flight anthology (or was it the second? I'd have to get them out but I'm not gonna), then later in Zita The Space Girl. In 2014, I met him briefly in an SPX autograph line (his, not mine), and since then we've gradually become friends as people do in this age of digital correspondences. I am enthusiastic for his work, in part because it kicks ass but in part because how can you not cheer on someone who means something to you? Take that as you want. Comics is small and everyone eventually gets to know everybody in some capacity, but I figured I should underscore this connection.
Home is (obviously) where the heart is, but hearts are homes to such variance of motive, desire, ideology, mood, and composure that Home can be a tricky thing to pin down. At base, I think we'd want to speak of home as the seat of our comfort, the place that offers us ease and safety and protection foremost. But very often too our homes feature some element or another than push us out, that push us to see what is to be seen. Put positively, we read this as the call to adventure. Put otherwise, flight.
Ben Hatke's new book is most properly the former, an answer to his decades-old affection for Nelly Bly's global circumnavigation and Verne's Around The World In 80 Days, which inspired Bly and others; but we'd be poor readers if we didn't also catch the forthright hints of the latter, an escape that gradually unveils across the course of the book.
The conceit here is that Hatke's kitchen has two doors, one facing east and one facing west. He would, very reasonably one day leave through one and, using only earthbound travel, return through the other. "I am just going outside and may be some time, only I'll really come back, I promise, and this isn't some euphemism to amplify my bravery in niceties, I hope." It is not likely a spoiler, since he's drawn this book, to reveal that he does in fact survive, though I think everyone was on tenterhooks as he passed through less certain portions of his trail.
If this book were mere travelogue, that would be one thing but it's better than that. I'm a firm believer in the idea that all biography (and especially autobiography) is a kind of fiction but that we call it nonfiction to emphasize that we hope to convey, in some manner or another, True Things that line up with life as it happened. Because of that, I'm always delighted by authors who embrace their subject with a freedom to allow more fantastical elements in. Hatke accomplishes this by liberally sprinkling appearances and conversations with spirits both historical and fictional; we take pleasure in conversations with Fogg and Passepartout, Nellie Bly, Bill Bryson, Leonardo da Vinci, Francis of Assisi, and Kenneth Graham's Sea Rat, among others. These even take part in their own conversations outside Hatke's hearing, omen of What's To Come.
One of my favorite reads last year was Rodrigo Fresán's Melvill, a kind of eschatalogical biography of Allan Melvill (father of the father of Moby-Dick) and it throws in Melvill's deathbed swoon conversations with ghosts and imaginations and fictional future histories (there is mention of a book on glaciology by Leonard Snart, whom we know as Captain Cold). In playing with these elements, Fresán takes what we know and extrapolates a True picture of Allan and breathes life into the man's life, character, and relationship to Herman. Melvill is yards better for breaking the veil, and Home/World elevates similarly. Anyone can pen a travelogue, but to be buoyed along the way by St Francis and the Sea Rat? That's the stuff. That's the ticket.
While we see Hatke's often harrowing journey buoyed by friendly ghosts made solid by his narrative imagination, even to the point of a gragantuan beautiful kaiju of a woman representing the spirit of The Trip, there is another spirit that haunts the text, this one without whimsical form. A little under five years before setting out through his kitchen door, Hatke's youngest daughter at the time was lost in a terrible accident at 4 years old.* By the time of his trip, Hatke is still weighed by unresolved grief (as if such things can find resolution). Ida doesn't get a conversational ghost—she's too important—but her presence is all throughout the book. Her grave is outside Hatke's home in Virginia, and he visits it physically at both the open and close of his adventure, but visits in other ways so much more often throughout the journey. Her presence felt throughout is both a terror and a balm and gives the book much of its weight.
This is a book about many things. It's about the size of the world, both in how it's smaller than it once was but also in how its recent fragmentation discourages exploring that size. It's about the privilege some of us swim in, unconsciously forgetting that water is wet because it's all that we know, and how good it can be to even just temporarily be stripped of those things that ease our movement through the world. It's about some of what makes Hatke mad: a) authoritarian structures and accoutrements and b) those who cannot take joy in the world around them, fearing it and retreating from it. It's about adventure and joy and uncertainty and hope.
But more than anything, Home/World is about two things:
1) Weathering grief and the undercurrent of unexamined trauma that changes what living means.
2) The constant presence of the people who love you.
Throughout the majority of Hatke's travels, he is cared for by friends and friends of friends, both present and distant. That love is overwhelming and is more striking than near any technological innovation making travel more convenient (and some of those like translation apps, online banking solutions, travel timetables, GPS and maps, etc are truly astounding additions and would have made my travels in the '90s and Aughts not nearly as horrible as they were). Seeing Hatke run into friends is a delight. Seeing him get set up by friends to meet with friendly strangers who enrich his trip is like watching the god of serendipity weave her magic.
When Hatke returns home at last, there are no suitors imposing on his hospitality, wooing his wife. There is no slaughter. Just a return to a wife and family who cherish him and have missed him. He does string a bow, though. He is home, where the love is. He is home, where he sheds at least a little of the weight at Ida's grave. He is home, where the heart is. Or at least the part of the heart that isn't The Trip, and is not the wanderer, the troubador, the scamp, the adventurer.
Home/World continues Hatke's trend toward work that features more grown-up thoughts. Those who read Reynard's Tale and Things In The Basement will be better prepared to encounter some of the hard things than those whose last encounter with Hatke was in the Zita and Mighty Jack trilogies. For my part, as much as my family values his middle grade adventures, I think this is the best we've seen from him, and I would be glad to see much more directed at this audience.
____
*Michelle and I burst with grief on the news of the accident, sitting vigil while we waited on news, bursting again when news of her passing struck. We'd lost a child ourselves several years earlier and were still grieving our own loss, but ours was still in-womb when we lost them. The comparison is nearly tawdry for although we held hopes and dreams and love, we'd never met our child. A four-year-old though, that's a fully-fledged person, someone emerged from the oblivion of infancy. A dear relationship. It may be hard for those without children to understand just what a four-year-old is. Our eldest daughter excitedly learned to read at age four so that she could read the third book of Zita The Spacegirl when it came out. My son beat Breath Of The Wild when he was four. The wonderful Japanese comic Yotsuba&! conveys what your typical four-year-old is like, and she is a joy to encounter. The loss of such a soul is incalculable to those who love her.
____
NOTE: I'd first encountered Hatke's work in the first Flight anthology (or was it the second? I'd have to get them out but I'm not gonna), then later in Zita The Space Girl. In 2014, I met him briefly in an SPX autograph line (his, not mine), and since then we've gradually become friends as people do in this age of digital correspondences. I am enthusiastic for his work, in part because it kicks ass but in part because how can you not cheer on someone who means something to you? Take that as you want. Comics is small and everyone eventually gets to know everybody in some capacity, but I figured I should underscore this connection.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
My thanks to NetGalley and First Second Books for an advance copy of this graphic novel that on the surface is about a man deciding to travel the world, following a dream from youth, but is story about the way we view things, the way we grieve, and what a wonderful planet we live on, full of kindness, and possibilities.
I would like to see more of the world, but I must admit that I am in many ways like that old New Yorker poster, that shows New York as huge, the rest of the country as a suburb. My own country is a mystery to me, so I can't imagine how comfortable I would be in a foreign clime. Especially since well the word Ugly American is probably the least that I would be considered. I can say that I read a lot, so understand that world, but this is not true. My reading comes from the experiences or even Internet research of authors. Nothing beats being in a place, sharing food, sharing stories, and seeing the views through your own eyes. This was what hit me most about this graphic novel, one that I thought was just about travel and what it was like to be an American in the big pond of the world. A travel book that looks at the inner world of the author, as much as the countries that he passed through. Home/World: A Circumnavigation of Our Shared Earth written and illustrated by Ben Hatke is a story of travel, of lost, of family, and how the world has become smaller, more controlled, and yet people continue to try to live, love, and be nice.
Ben Hatke is a successful graphic artist with a loving family, an archery hobby and a dream of travel. Not just a small tourist trip, but a trip around the world, a dream that came to him in college. Hatke putters around trying to see how hard this would be, to circle the world, from East to west, like many a fictional character like Phineas Fogg, and real trailblazers, like Nellie Bly. The world is easier, but in many ways harder to travel. Ships have COVID restrictions, countries have visa issues, and even a few stop travel among their borders. Slowly a plan comes together, one involving trains, buses, cabs, even bikes, with a few flights allowed. Hatke sets off, sailing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary, setting off on trains to Europe and beyond. Along the way he finds old friends, new companions, and adventures, both good and in some places bad. As Hatke a more important reason for traveling revels itself, and one wonders if Hatke is traveling for adventure, or running from the past.
A really wonderful graphic novel that exceeded all of my expectations, and touched me in ways I didn't expect at all. I had thought this was just a simple travel story, but there is a mix of biography, personal experiences, discussions of creativity, and a lot on grieveing. The story is really well done and well presented, a balanced mix of personal, with views and stories of the countries that Hatke finds himself in, and those he meets on the way. The art is really good. A mix of sketchbook and finished art, told in black and white, but with splashes of color that really have an impact. Hatke captures the view the places, and the people really well, and makes the world seem not different, scary or fearful, but new, interesting and worth learning more about.
I really enjoyed the story and the art. The writing is really absorbing, adding in the visual elements that graphic novels can do so well adds to everything. There are pages one does not want to leave, and lines that resound in the depths of the soul. A really excellent tale of travel, family and coming to grips with being alive on this planet. A life of hopes, dreams, loss, but still with a sense of wonder. I eagerly await what Ben Hatke has planned next.
I would like to see more of the world, but I must admit that I am in many ways like that old New Yorker poster, that shows New York as huge, the rest of the country as a suburb. My own country is a mystery to me, so I can't imagine how comfortable I would be in a foreign clime. Especially since well the word Ugly American is probably the least that I would be considered. I can say that I read a lot, so understand that world, but this is not true. My reading comes from the experiences or even Internet research of authors. Nothing beats being in a place, sharing food, sharing stories, and seeing the views through your own eyes. This was what hit me most about this graphic novel, one that I thought was just about travel and what it was like to be an American in the big pond of the world. A travel book that looks at the inner world of the author, as much as the countries that he passed through. Home/World: A Circumnavigation of Our Shared Earth written and illustrated by Ben Hatke is a story of travel, of lost, of family, and how the world has become smaller, more controlled, and yet people continue to try to live, love, and be nice.
Ben Hatke is a successful graphic artist with a loving family, an archery hobby and a dream of travel. Not just a small tourist trip, but a trip around the world, a dream that came to him in college. Hatke putters around trying to see how hard this would be, to circle the world, from East to west, like many a fictional character like Phineas Fogg, and real trailblazers, like Nellie Bly. The world is easier, but in many ways harder to travel. Ships have COVID restrictions, countries have visa issues, and even a few stop travel among their borders. Slowly a plan comes together, one involving trains, buses, cabs, even bikes, with a few flights allowed. Hatke sets off, sailing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary, setting off on trains to Europe and beyond. Along the way he finds old friends, new companions, and adventures, both good and in some places bad. As Hatke a more important reason for traveling revels itself, and one wonders if Hatke is traveling for adventure, or running from the past.
A really wonderful graphic novel that exceeded all of my expectations, and touched me in ways I didn't expect at all. I had thought this was just a simple travel story, but there is a mix of biography, personal experiences, discussions of creativity, and a lot on grieveing. The story is really well done and well presented, a balanced mix of personal, with views and stories of the countries that Hatke finds himself in, and those he meets on the way. The art is really good. A mix of sketchbook and finished art, told in black and white, but with splashes of color that really have an impact. Hatke captures the view the places, and the people really well, and makes the world seem not different, scary or fearful, but new, interesting and worth learning more about.
I really enjoyed the story and the art. The writing is really absorbing, adding in the visual elements that graphic novels can do so well adds to everything. There are pages one does not want to leave, and lines that resound in the depths of the soul. A really excellent tale of travel, family and coming to grips with being alive on this planet. A life of hopes, dreams, loss, but still with a sense of wonder. I eagerly await what Ben Hatke has planned next.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Ben Hatke is an Eisner award-winning author most known for the middle-grade graphic novel series "Zita the Spacegirl." With stunning sensitivity and insight, Hatke here recounts his epic circumnavigation of the globe carrying a sketchbook and the audacious trust that if he journeyed long enough the curve of the earth would bring him home again.
Flat-earthers would hate "Home/World: A Circumnavigation of Our Shared Earth."
A profound and insightful graphic memoir perfect for fans of Bill Bryson, "Home/World" isn't some inspirational graphic novel. Though always mesmerizing thanks to Hatke's remarkable artistry, Hatke's journey was one where privilege meets vulnerability and "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" meets "We Don't Want You Here."
"Home/World" captures powerfully captures the world that seems increasingly fractured and filled with conflict, however, Hatke's storytelling also beautifully reveals the flickers of humanity that keep us holding on to hope and to the world around us. There are moments of terror here, yet they are also moments of great tenderness and laughter.
For most, "Home/World" will offer a sense of return to hope and possibility, wonder and kindness. Hartke puts forth the possibility that sometimes seems absurd anymore - that art may very well hold humanity together.
I'm not one who frequently embraces the world of graphic novel, however, I fell in love with "Home/World" and can't wait to have it sitting on my shelf. As one who journeys (though certainly not around the world), I identified with so many these in "Home/World" and felt a kinship with both Hartke and "Home/World." Simply and exquisitely illustrated, "Home/World" captures Hatke's fears, doubts, anxieties, and revelations along his journey and also captured the power of humanity, from friends and family to complete strangers, to circumvent those fears, doubts, and anxieties as Hatke circumnavigates the earth.
"Home/World" is also the kind of book that will likely have you looking back on Hatke's other works if you've not already done so. Sublimely illustrated and with exceptional storytelling, "Home/World" is yet another wonderful literary experience from Ben Hatke.
Flat-earthers would hate "Home/World: A Circumnavigation of Our Shared Earth."
A profound and insightful graphic memoir perfect for fans of Bill Bryson, "Home/World" isn't some inspirational graphic novel. Though always mesmerizing thanks to Hatke's remarkable artistry, Hatke's journey was one where privilege meets vulnerability and "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" meets "We Don't Want You Here."
"Home/World" captures powerfully captures the world that seems increasingly fractured and filled with conflict, however, Hatke's storytelling also beautifully reveals the flickers of humanity that keep us holding on to hope and to the world around us. There are moments of terror here, yet they are also moments of great tenderness and laughter.
For most, "Home/World" will offer a sense of return to hope and possibility, wonder and kindness. Hartke puts forth the possibility that sometimes seems absurd anymore - that art may very well hold humanity together.
I'm not one who frequently embraces the world of graphic novel, however, I fell in love with "Home/World" and can't wait to have it sitting on my shelf. As one who journeys (though certainly not around the world), I identified with so many these in "Home/World" and felt a kinship with both Hartke and "Home/World." Simply and exquisitely illustrated, "Home/World" captures Hatke's fears, doubts, anxieties, and revelations along his journey and also captured the power of humanity, from friends and family to complete strangers, to circumvent those fears, doubts, and anxieties as Hatke circumnavigates the earth.
"Home/World" is also the kind of book that will likely have you looking back on Hatke's other works if you've not already done so. Sublimely illustrated and with exceptional storytelling, "Home/World" is yet another wonderful literary experience from Ben Hatke.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
“If people knew the blessings travelers enjoy, then everyone would be on the road.” - Hadith quote found in Home/World
Home/World by Ben Hatke is a graphic memoir about his trek and circumnavigation of the globe. The artwork is captivating, and has beautiful warm sepia and blue tones with a loose, sketchy feel. I love the limited color palette as it brings a focus to the story which is fascinating: how does a person circumnavigate the Earth in a post-Covid era without using modern means of transportation like airplanes?
The flowing arcs of the drawing make for a beautifully written story that I enjoyed thoroughly from beginning to end, and plan to read again over the years. I read this digitally, and found it best in landscape mode because the two page layouts were stunningly beautiful and looked better when you can see them as a whole. I also am planning to buy the physical book to keep when it’s available. The crosshatching and shading is so lovely.
I especially loved seeing his loadout travel kit of what he packed, made to travel light and fast, not unlike Nellie Bly and her “Around the World in Eighty Days” adventure back in 1889-1890. Ben’s journey embarks from Strasburg, Virginia. As he begins his travels, he references the pain of having lost his youngest daughter in 2019 at four and a half years old. The graphic memoir then settles in to the first passage on the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, and his time in London. We then cross Europe with him by train to Paris, Annecy, Genoa, Gravagna, Florence, and more, with time spent exploring or meeting with friends he’s known for years along the way. This book resonated with me as a traveler (of course, not to Ben Hatke's extent), but seeing his ship and train travel just gave me that wanderlust for seeing more of the beauty in the world.
Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books for this ARC.
Home/World by Ben Hatke is a graphic memoir about his trek and circumnavigation of the globe. The artwork is captivating, and has beautiful warm sepia and blue tones with a loose, sketchy feel. I love the limited color palette as it brings a focus to the story which is fascinating: how does a person circumnavigate the Earth in a post-Covid era without using modern means of transportation like airplanes?
The flowing arcs of the drawing make for a beautifully written story that I enjoyed thoroughly from beginning to end, and plan to read again over the years. I read this digitally, and found it best in landscape mode because the two page layouts were stunningly beautiful and looked better when you can see them as a whole. I also am planning to buy the physical book to keep when it’s available. The crosshatching and shading is so lovely.
I especially loved seeing his loadout travel kit of what he packed, made to travel light and fast, not unlike Nellie Bly and her “Around the World in Eighty Days” adventure back in 1889-1890. Ben’s journey embarks from Strasburg, Virginia. As he begins his travels, he references the pain of having lost his youngest daughter in 2019 at four and a half years old. The graphic memoir then settles in to the first passage on the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner, and his time in London. We then cross Europe with him by train to Paris, Annecy, Genoa, Gravagna, Florence, and more, with time spent exploring or meeting with friends he’s known for years along the way. This book resonated with me as a traveler (of course, not to Ben Hatke's extent), but seeing his ship and train travel just gave me that wanderlust for seeing more of the beauty in the world.
Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books for this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Ben Hatke's Home/World is one of those books where the artwork immediately pulls you in. The illustrations are absolutely stunning. They're full of color, movement, and small details that make each stop along the journey feel vivid and alive. It's the kind of book where you’ll find yourself lingering on pages just to take everything in.
The premise itself is fascinating: Hatke sets out to circumnavigate the globe, completing the journey in 55 days. What makes the narrative especially interesting is how it reflects on the way travel has changed over time. The book touches on how modern realities, things like the lingering effects of Covid and rising political tensions, shape where we can go and how we experience the world. That reflection adds a thoughtful layer beneath what might otherwise feel like a simple travelogue.
At its heart, though, the story is really about family and grief. Hatke openly reflects on the loss of his daughter five years earlier, and those moments give the book an emotional depth that caught me off guard. The journey becomes not just about seeing the world, but about processing loss and reconnecting with the people who matter most.
Despite those heavier themes, the book remains uplifting and hopeful. It's also a very quick, accessible read, which feels funny to say considering the author spent nearly two months traveling around the globe to make it happen.
Overall, Home/World is a beautiful, reflective graphic memoir about travel, family, and finding meaning in the wider world. If you enjoy thoughtful travel narratives or graphic nonfiction, this one is definitely worth picking up. 🌍✈️📖
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The premise itself is fascinating: Hatke sets out to circumnavigate the globe, completing the journey in 55 days. What makes the narrative especially interesting is how it reflects on the way travel has changed over time. The book touches on how modern realities, things like the lingering effects of Covid and rising political tensions, shape where we can go and how we experience the world. That reflection adds a thoughtful layer beneath what might otherwise feel like a simple travelogue.
At its heart, though, the story is really about family and grief. Hatke openly reflects on the loss of his daughter five years earlier, and those moments give the book an emotional depth that caught me off guard. The journey becomes not just about seeing the world, but about processing loss and reconnecting with the people who matter most.
Despite those heavier themes, the book remains uplifting and hopeful. It's also a very quick, accessible read, which feels funny to say considering the author spent nearly two months traveling around the globe to make it happen.
Overall, Home/World is a beautiful, reflective graphic memoir about travel, family, and finding meaning in the wider world. If you enjoy thoughtful travel narratives or graphic nonfiction, this one is definitely worth picking up. 🌍✈️📖
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Home/World is a whirlwind adventure. The illustrations are simple and approachable, while still remaining immersive and full of movement. The sketch-like quality of the art and inclusion of photographs really conveys the feeling of a travel journal. For those that enjoy historical and detailed reads, there is plenty here in terms of history about explorers, transportation and communication. Though it’s a packed book, the story moves at a quick pace, never staying too long in any one place.
While it’s hard not to be swept along by the sense of wonder at the world and the ways in which we connect with one another, it is pretty immediately evident that Hatke is able to take this journey due to privilege and social connections. It is beautiful to see the ways in which friends, family, and acquaintances are a part of his journey, and also shows that something of this magnitude is likely inaccessible to most. Connections with strangers are an interesting contrast, highlighting our capacity to care for one another, but also the risky unknown of sharing space with people you've only just met.
I was particularly struck by the inclusion of grief throughout the story, as this trip ends up becoming a part of Hatke processing the loss of one of his daughters. There is a great sense of magnitude throughout his travels, physically, emotionally, and historically. This book makes me want to travel or move somewhere new, while simultaneously appreciating what I have at home.
Many thanks to NetGalley and First Second Books for the digital ARC!
While it’s hard not to be swept along by the sense of wonder at the world and the ways in which we connect with one another, it is pretty immediately evident that Hatke is able to take this journey due to privilege and social connections. It is beautiful to see the ways in which friends, family, and acquaintances are a part of his journey, and also shows that something of this magnitude is likely inaccessible to most. Connections with strangers are an interesting contrast, highlighting our capacity to care for one another, but also the risky unknown of sharing space with people you've only just met.
I was particularly struck by the inclusion of grief throughout the story, as this trip ends up becoming a part of Hatke processing the loss of one of his daughters. There is a great sense of magnitude throughout his travels, physically, emotionally, and historically. This book makes me want to travel or move somewhere new, while simultaneously appreciating what I have at home.
Many thanks to NetGalley and First Second Books for the digital ARC!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Wow. I loved this book. So much so that I will most likely actually buy a copy for my personal collection when it comes out later this year. This was a total five-star read for me!
First of all, the illustrations were wonderful. They were beautiful in their simplicity, yet were expressive and finely detailed. They really gave me an idea of what was going on in the author's head and what he saw as he was travelling around the world. They're just really, really well done. I liked the touch of the personification of different thoughts going around in his head. The historical figures that he took inspiration from were constant companions on his trip around the world. His dark thoughts of doubt, anxiety, and fear at different points in his trip are manifested like little demon creatures that follow him. I really connected with that aspect of the book and it endeared the author to me. This book caused me to reflect on the world and how big it is - the "roundness" of the world. I would never have the ability to do a trip like this, but I loved reading about the author's adventures.
This book was shown to me by NetGalley (thank you NetGalley) - I did not previously know about it before seeing it on the website. I am so glad that this book found me, I loved it so much. I fully plan on following Ben Hatke's work in the future. If you like travelogues, reflections and ruminations, beautiful illustrations, and a grand adventure - read this book when it comes out in Fall 2026!!
First of all, the illustrations were wonderful. They were beautiful in their simplicity, yet were expressive and finely detailed. They really gave me an idea of what was going on in the author's head and what he saw as he was travelling around the world. They're just really, really well done. I liked the touch of the personification of different thoughts going around in his head. The historical figures that he took inspiration from were constant companions on his trip around the world. His dark thoughts of doubt, anxiety, and fear at different points in his trip are manifested like little demon creatures that follow him. I really connected with that aspect of the book and it endeared the author to me. This book caused me to reflect on the world and how big it is - the "roundness" of the world. I would never have the ability to do a trip like this, but I loved reading about the author's adventures.
This book was shown to me by NetGalley (thank you NetGalley) - I did not previously know about it before seeing it on the website. I am so glad that this book found me, I loved it so much. I fully plan on following Ben Hatke's work in the future. If you like travelogues, reflections and ruminations, beautiful illustrations, and a grand adventure - read this book when it comes out in Fall 2026!!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Home/World by Ben Hatke follow the artist on his decision to circumnavigate the world, something that is in many ways more difficult than those who may have done it a century before. While many things I'd wonder about such as food and toiletries are glossed over--he does seem to have a supportive global network--it does not distract from the overall takeaways from his journey. He shares historical events and art as he goes, informing the reader of different connections and allusions. We also get to meet his friends, co-workers, and other random people along the way, each adding to the special. nature of each place and the overall journey. He shares some of his personal mental struggles as well as political realities he faced as an American man traveling overseas. The sketches provide just enough detail as well, and the fluid movement through panels and pages adds to the trip as well. The blurbs were right: this is an excellent graphic memoir, which are always my favorite in the first place, and a good pick for those who are fans of Bill Bryson or William Least Heat-Moon. I laughed out loud at the "mental projection of Bill Bryson!" While it may not circulate as well in my high school library, I still plan on purchasing it, and I recommend it for others. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for this ARC. The physical copy of the book will be even more beautiful than the digital version!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.5
Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
One of my favorite author/illustrators, Ben Hatke (Zita the Spacegirl), attempts to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days (a la Phileas Fogg, or the much more real Nellie Bly). It turns out that this is extra challenging in our contemporary world of closed borders and reliable air travel (Why would anyone take a boat? scoffs the modern world). Hatke, however, is more than up for the challenge, and out of his adventures has created a moving and reflective narrative.
The appeal of Hatke has always been his art and Home/World gives that a chance to shine. There are beautifully rendered spreads of the many wonders he sees on his travels; there are the humorously sketched ghosts of globe trotters of the past and the many eccentric citizens of our planet he encounters. It’s a marvelous book to look at; I can’t imagine the time and effort it took to create a story out of 55 days of journeying, but the results are incredible.
Having followed his work for a while now, it’s emotionally satisfying to see Hatke reflect on some of the incredibly hard events he’s had to face in recent years. I think about him a lot – as an author, as a wandering soul, as a father – and I’m glad to know that he’s out in the world, keeping going, and still finding wonder in everyday beauty.
A thought provoking, emotionally effective read. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
One of my favorite author/illustrators, Ben Hatke (Zita the Spacegirl), attempts to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days (a la Phileas Fogg, or the much more real Nellie Bly). It turns out that this is extra challenging in our contemporary world of closed borders and reliable air travel (Why would anyone take a boat? scoffs the modern world). Hatke, however, is more than up for the challenge, and out of his adventures has created a moving and reflective narrative.
The appeal of Hatke has always been his art and Home/World gives that a chance to shine. There are beautifully rendered spreads of the many wonders he sees on his travels; there are the humorously sketched ghosts of globe trotters of the past and the many eccentric citizens of our planet he encounters. It’s a marvelous book to look at; I can’t imagine the time and effort it took to create a story out of 55 days of journeying, but the results are incredible.
Having followed his work for a while now, it’s emotionally satisfying to see Hatke reflect on some of the incredibly hard events he’s had to face in recent years. I think about him a lot – as an author, as a wandering soul, as a father – and I’m glad to know that he’s out in the world, keeping going, and still finding wonder in everyday beauty.
A thought provoking, emotionally effective read. Highly recommended.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
"Well the flat earther's will never get me now!"
I don't normally read a lot of graphic memoirs but between the peek of artwork inside and the description it was a must. Overall this was a 4.75/5! It may sound horrible to say but I can't give it a full 5 because I feel like there could have been more of a focus on the in travel stress or frustration. That said, there was so much to learn and experience throughout this novel. Not only are we passengers to this introspective journey around the world but we are learning about the figures who make those cities so memorable either through historical events, literature, paintings, or other art forms.
To be expected (I think), my favorite chapters were when you could see the concern and frustration of a change in plans or lack of a full safety net come to light. While terrifying, the chapters in which Ben Hatke didn't have friends or family in the area to help were the ones I think his travel experience was expressed the best. There was an honesty to the fear, the regret, and the hope.
Whether you are just getting into graphic memoirs or have a full collection of them, I think this is a must read.
I don't normally read a lot of graphic memoirs but between the peek of artwork inside and the description it was a must. Overall this was a 4.75/5! It may sound horrible to say but I can't give it a full 5 because I feel like there could have been more of a focus on the in travel stress or frustration. That said, there was so much to learn and experience throughout this novel. Not only are we passengers to this introspective journey around the world but we are learning about the figures who make those cities so memorable either through historical events, literature, paintings, or other art forms.
To be expected (I think), my favorite chapters were when you could see the concern and frustration of a change in plans or lack of a full safety net come to light. While terrifying, the chapters in which Ben Hatke didn't have friends or family in the area to help were the ones I think his travel experience was expressed the best. There was an honesty to the fear, the regret, and the hope.
Whether you are just getting into graphic memoirs or have a full collection of them, I think this is a must read.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Advanced digital copy received from NetGalley!
A non-fiction graphic novel is sort of a hard sell for me, given that I don’t love non-fiction in the first place (I’m trying!). That being said, this was one of the best things I’ve ever read. Ben Hatke paints a beautiful picture of what traveling means to him, his family, his friends, and our world at large. Hatke’s nervousness, spirit, and his admission of grief turns this book in ways I never expected!
A non-fiction graphic novel is sort of a hard sell for me, given that I don’t love non-fiction in the first place (I’m trying!). That being said, this was one of the best things I’ve ever read. Ben Hatke paints a beautiful picture of what traveling means to him, his family, his friends, and our world at large. Hatke’s nervousness, spirit, and his admission of grief turns this book in ways I never expected!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
After the traumatic death of his young daughter, author Ben Hatke decided, with support from his wife, family and friends, to walk out the front door of his house and continue until he circumnavigated the globe and returned home through his back door.
Part travelogue, part treatise on what home and stability means after feeling such heavy weight of grief, Hatke never divulges personal details yet manages to create an intimate narrative nonetheless. I loved every page.
Part travelogue, part treatise on what home and stability means after feeling such heavy weight of grief, Hatke never divulges personal details yet manages to create an intimate narrative nonetheless. I loved every page.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Loved this book. If the goal was to make me think about traveling across the globe (hazards and all) it succeeded. The light touch on the illustrations gives it an ethereal feel but it’s beautiful and gives glimpses of all the countries visited by the author in a way that draws you in. Wonderful touches of humor but also doesn’t downplay some of the more difficult aspects of the journey. One of the best books I’ve read this year.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
There is a lot to love about this book. Hatke’s inside thoughts being brought to life are really interesting. The magical realism was a nice touch, but I could see where people might dislike it. The coolest thing has to do with the eyes. You’ll know when you read it.
Thanks to Net Galley, First second books, and Mr. Hatke for the ARC.
Thanks to Net Galley, First second books, and Mr. Hatke for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
"We can't travel through time or space without changing.
In the end, The Trip is more than a memory. She's another thing I'll carry with me. A part of my outlook.
A presence.
And she still calls."
In the end, The Trip is more than a memory. She's another thing I'll carry with me. A part of my outlook.
A presence.
And she still calls."
February 18, 2026
Loved this book, but I won't be purchasing it for my middle school library. I think my 8th graders would appreciate the text, but some of the artwork is explicit and erotic even though they are rendered from real world art.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.5 stars
This was wonderful. I love both the story and the art.
This was wonderful. I love both the story and the art.
Read
June 21, 2026(I do not rate memoirs.)
Hatke crafted an incredible memoir of this year that he took to travel around the world in less than 80 days. In this journey, the lead up to it, and also the aftermath, Hatke explores a lot of complex things that have affected him and his entire family, such as the untimely and incredibly tragic death of one of his daughters which took place before this book opens. I appreciated this look into the author’s life, something incredibly appropriate for the highly talented author and illustrator that he is. I definitely recommend this memoir.
Hatke crafted an incredible memoir of this year that he took to travel around the world in less than 80 days. In this journey, the lead up to it, and also the aftermath, Hatke explores a lot of complex things that have affected him and his entire family, such as the untimely and incredibly tragic death of one of his daughters which took place before this book opens. I appreciated this look into the author’s life, something incredibly appropriate for the highly talented author and illustrator that he is. I definitely recommend this memoir.
August 9, 2026
Full of insightful thoughts, friends and family who join off and on along the way, and the serendipitous meeting of strangers, Hatke is open about grief he is processing for his child who passed away and how that impacts his everyday life and thoughts. This is such a beautiful exploration of the world communicated through Hatke's blend of illustrations and words, absolutely worth the read.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Fascinating story, I've been a fan of Hatke's for years and followed his sneak peak posts of the journey on socials. So excited to get to review the whole book early! A wonderful mix of philosophical and whimsical. The art style is different from his other books, but fits the tone perfectly. Simple and impressionist at times or detailed and precise at others. Also I absolutely appreciate Hatke's honesty and openness about his grieving journey. I've been on the periphery of family members who lost a small child and it is one of the hardest things to watch them navigate.
This book was an amazing endeavor and I hope just because the world seems to be getting smaller we don't forget how to really travel.
This book was an amazing endeavor and I hope just because the world seems to be getting smaller we don't forget how to really travel.
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