The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets - Hardcover

Pitman, Gayle E

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1419737201 ISBN 13: 9781419737206

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019

Synopsis

In The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets, Gayle E. Pitman’s “fresh storytelling brings emotion and depth to the history of a movement and the establishment that served as an epicenter for social change” (Publishers Weekly).
 
A timely and necessary read, The Stonewall Riots helps readers understand the history and legacy of the LGBTQ+ movement. The book includes contemporary photos, newspaper clippings, and other period objects, as well as a timeline, a biography, and an index. Interviews with people involved as well as witnesses bring an immediacy to the story.

In clear prose and short chapters, the book takes readers through a history of American gay life leading up to the Riots, the Riots themselves, and the aftermath. In a starred review, Shelf Awareness noted: “With meaningful content delivered in an innovative format, The Stonewall Riots deserves to be required reading for people of all ages.”
 
The Stonewall Riots were a series of spontaneous, at times violent demonstrations by members of the gay (LGBTQ+) community in reaction to a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The Riots are attributed as the spark that ignited the LGBTQ+ movement.

About this title

About the Author

Gayle E. Pitman, PhD, is a professor of psychology and women and gender studies at Sacramento City College. Her research, teaching, and writing focus heavily on gender, sexual orientation, intersectionality, and social justice. Her first children’s book won the 2015 ALA Stonewall Award. She lives in Rio Linda, California.

Reviews

Gr 6–9—A thorough if somewhat disjointed examination of the events before, during, and in the aftermath of the Stonewall Riots gives young readers an overview of the LGBTQ+ activism of the 1950s and 1960s. Pitman traces meeting places, social clubs, and the rise of organizations and activist groups as well as the many police raids of gay establishments, focusing on the June 28, 1969, raid on the mob-owned Stonewall Inn. Due to a lack of documented accounts, use of pseudonyms, and conflicting reports, controversies remain over the actuality of events at Stonewall. Post-Stonewall, readers learn about the increase in radical groups and visibility that challenged negative attitudes and discrimination. Pitman occasionally expands the narrative focus to examine what was happening in various places around the country and to consider other issues and movements of the time, including weaknesses and missteps in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights. The unique approach of using various objects (matchbooks, leaflets, buttons, arrest records, photographs, and more, with many reproductions too small or low resolution to read) to guide, inform, and reconstruct the story of the riots prevents a smooth narrative flow and makes the text feel repetitive as it moves back and forth in time. Back matter includes a time line, notes, bibliography, and an index. VERDICT An important look at a major moment in American history. Readers will come to understand why the iconic Stonewall Inn is now on the National Register of Historic Places, a National Historic Landmark, and a National Monument.—Amanda MacGregor, Parkview Elementary School, Rosemount, MN

Edition details

• Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1419737201
• ISBN 13: 9781419737206
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208