In Leonard (My Life as a Cat), Sorosiak explores the challenges of fitting in through the parallel character arcs of Leonard and Olive. Both characters struggle with feeling like outsiders, grappling with the pressure to conform to social expectations and fearing being judged by others. However, through their friendship, they learn to embrace their differences and discover that true belonging comes not from fitting in, but from finding others who accept you for who you are.

Leonard’s struggle is a hyperbolized, science fiction-infused version of the outsider experience. As an alien, he arrives on Earth with only a limited understanding of human behavior, making even the smallest social interactions a challenge. He originally meant to come to Earth as a Yellowstone park ranger and spent years studying how to guide humans through nature. Instead, he is mistakenly transformed into a cat, a creature whose instincts and behaviors he does not understand. Leonard conceptualizes this new adjustment challenge as a journey “venturing… into unknown territory” (22). This language emphasizes the physical nature of belonging and the way movement poses a particular challenge for an outsider. 

Leonard also faces barriers that come not from his outsider status among humans, but from his own species’ rules.