(Originally published with slight variation in my Mombian newspaper column.) We’re just a few weeks away from the Pride Month that marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, and children’s book authors are stepping up to offer age-appropriate histories of this pivotal event and its impact.
Gayle Pitman’s The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets
(Abrams; out May 14th) is aimed at middle schoolers and up. It is organized around 50 representative objects, including the “Statement of Purpose” from the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian civil rights group in the U.S.; a matchbook from Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, site of a pre-Stonewall police raid in Los Angeles; a photograph of trans advocate Marsha P. Johnson; another of bisexual activist Brenda Howard; and a New York city police nightstick. Pitman, a professor of psychology and women/gender studies at Sacramento City College, weaves the stories behind these objects into a compelling narrative that feels both accessible and substantial. She thoughtfully shows how the groundwork for Stonewall was laid, albeit unintentionally, by police raids on gay establishments around the country, a burgeoning organization among LGBT people, and the visibility of other civil rights movements. She also conveys how Stonewall nurtured a mindset and launched organizations that propelled the LGBTQ rights movement forward into what it is today.
As a trained historian myself, I applaud that Pitman captures so much of what history is really about: piecing together clues to what happened, asking questions that don’t always have answers, and realizing there are often multiple sides to a story. The book should stand not just as a history of one event or movement (although it does that exceptionally well), but as an example of how history for young people can be made enthralling, nuanced, and relevant to their lives today.
For elementary-school age children, Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution
, by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Jamey Christoph (Random House), tells the story from the perspective of the Stonewall Inn itself. This both immerses readers in the setting and avoids privileging any one LGBTQ person’s perspective on what happened. It is not a tale of walls and bricks, however, for the Inn’s narration focuses on the people in its neighborhood, and Christoph’s evocative illustrations capture their diversity of race, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
Sanders, an author and teacher, describes the evolution of the Greenwich Village neighborhood from a haven for immigrants to a gathering place for artists and musicians, “a place where being different was welcomed and accepted.” At the same time, the Inn observes, “Others were not as accepting,” and “loving someone like yourself” or “wearing the wrong clothes” could lead to arrest. Sanders deals in an age-appropriate way with the violence of the Riots, mentioning shouting, broken windows, and some unspecified fires, but focusing on the feelings of outrage and resistance more than physical altercations.
He ends by explaining some ways that things have changed because of Stonewall—two men or two women who love each other can marry, and LGBTQ people celebrate freedom and equality each June—even though the movement “still has further to go.”
A few final pages offer further details about the Inn and Uprising, a glossary, additional reading suggestions, a selection of photographs, and a Q&A interview with LGBTQ activist and Stonewall participant Martin Boyce. While the story is simplified for younger readers, it is no less moving for it. Place this alongside Sanders’ earlier Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag
, Pitman’s Sewing the Rainbow: A Story About Gilbert Baker
, and her When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community
as essential works of LGBTQ history for younger readers.
Another picture book out recently is Stonewall: Our March Continues
, by Olivia Higgins, illustrated by Tess Marie Vosevich Keller, which tells the tale of the Stonewall Uprising through the eyes of young LGBT people in the 1960s seeking community in New York City. It’s an engaging approach, but parents or teachers may need to explain that there are different people telling different parts of the story—the undifferentiated first-person narrative may be confusing here as it simultaneously tries to offer a variety of perspectives. Young readers might also need adult guidance so they are not scared by the line, “My parents demand that I change or leave home forever.”
Higgins shows her experience as an inclusive-schools educator with a thoughtful set of discussion questions at the end for readers of various ages, from the simple, “Where do you feel most comfortable to be yourself?” to the more complex, “What are some of the current challenges facing LGBTQ people both in the United States and around the world?”
As parents and educators seek Stonewall-related books in the coming months (and beyond), the 2015 middle-grade book Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights
, by Ann Bausum (Viking) is worth noting, too, as it will likely come up in book lists and searches. Bausum writes captivating and often lyrical scenes about the Uprising and its era. Unfortunately, however, she mentions by name a number of mostly White gay men but overlooks pivotal transgender activists of color Sylvia Rivera and Marsha Johnson. Some of her phrasing around transgender identities, too, is confusing at best, especially for young people who may first be encountering such terminology. Use this book with care; Pitman’s feels like a more balanced retelling. Also better in this regard is the 2016 middle-grade volume The Stonewall Riots: The Fight for LGBT Rights
, by Tristan Poehlmann (Essential Library). While solid, though, this slim volume is only available in a $30 library edition, which may not make it the ideal choice for home bookshelves. (Pitman’s, in hardcover or e-version, is about $12.)
Children and young adults may not yet fully realize the extent to which they, their families, and their friends are benefitting from the movement that Stonewall catalyzed. The new books about Stonewall are a great way to help them do so and to inspire them towards their own acts of resistance and justice.
(I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that provides a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.)
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