What was Stonewall? and The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets."On that hot summer night, to the cops' surprise, the people at Stonewall fought back."And they fought back hard."

Titles: What was Stonewall? and The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets

Authors: Nico Medina and Gayle E. Pitman


LGBTQ+ Representation: Both books describe the Stonewall riots and the Pride movement, so all the letters are represented.


What they're about (in 75 words or fewer): What was Stonewall? begins with a glossary of LGBTQ+ terms, gives a brief history of the gay rights movement prior to the Stonewall riots, describes the uprising at Stonewall, and explains major obstacles and successes of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The Stonewall Riots provides a more detailed version of the events, told through 50 primary documents, photographs, artifacts, and eyewitness testimonies. Gay rights activists are introduced in both books.


What I think: I wanted to read these books because I wanted to see how the riots were explained to children (ages 6-14, approximately) but also because I knew only a few facts about the Stonewall riots, namely:

• They occurred in June of 1969
• Marsha P. Johnson "threw the first brick" 
• No one died (!)
• Drag queens protested the cops in the form of a Radio City Rockettes-style kick line
• The protests lead to the first Pride March in NYC

The 57 Bus--"I am not a thug, gangster, hoodlum, nor monster." OR "He's a sixteen-year-old kid and sixteen-year-old kids are kind of dumb."

Title: The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime that Changed Their Lives

Author:  Dashka Slater


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Sasha is an agender nonbinary teenager who attends a private school for academically gifted students. Richard attends Oakland High School, is turning his life around, and is determined to graduate. One day they are both on the bus, and Richard is joking around with a lighter and sets Sasha's skirt on fire. Sasha spends months in the hospital, and Richard is arrested, charged as an adult, and could face life in prison if convicted.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): When I was a teenager, I watched the movie Twelve Angry Men, a story of jurors serving on a murder trial. A lot of damning evidence is presented at the trial, and eleven of the jurors want to immediately come to a guilty verdict. But one juror decides that they need to reexamine the evidence, and in the process, they discover enough reasonable doubt that each juror eventually changes his vote to not guilty.

Saving Alex--"We still have a lot of work to do"

Title:  Saving Alex:  When I Was Fifteen I Told My Mormon Parents I Was Gay, and That's When My Nightmare Began

Author:  Alex Cooper with Joanna Brooks

What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): When fifteen-year-old Alex tells her parents that she is a lesbian, she thinks her parents are sending her away to live with her grandparents.  However, Alex's parents send her to the Siales, a husband and wife team who take in "rebellious" teenagers and "fix" them.  Until Alex manages to escape with the help of school staff and a lawyer, she is physically and mentally abused in order to "cure" her of her homosexuality.

What I think (in 250 words or fewer):  Saving Alex that reads like one of those delightfully trashy unauthorized Kitty Kelley biographies that I went through a phase of reading in high school (don't judge).  I do not mean, however, to negate the seriousness of Alex's story by comparing it to a sensationalist novel.  Saving Alex is an autobiography and therefore is authorized, and it is truly horrifying.

Being Jazz--"Easy-to-read memoir"

Title:  Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen

Author: Jazz Jennings

What it's about (in 75 words or fewer):  Being Jazz is a memoir written by transgender teenager Jazz Jennings.  Jazz was assigned male at birth, but has lived most of her life as girl.  Her transgender advocacy at such a young age has been documented on the TLC reality show I am Jazz.


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): This was a super-easy and quick read, and I enjoyed it. I have a transgender son of my own (the opposite of Jazz--my child is a biological female who has always lived as a boy) and felt that I could emphasize with some of the issues that Jazz's family (especially her parents) had to deal with. I am very grateful to Jazz and her family for being pioneers for transgender children.