Gay & Lesbian History for Kids

August 15, 2015
With photographs and sidebars, a narrative account of the United States LGBT movement's highlights in the 20th and 21st centuries. LGBT history before the 20th century gets only a chapterlong summary, but its powerful message shines through: "For as long as there has been human civilization, LGBT people have played a part." Subsequent chapters chronicle historical and cultural events as well as notable LGBT people, from poet Langston Hughes to "transgender superstar" Christine Jorgensen to sharp-tongued AIDS activist Larry Kramer. This is the story of people more than movements; many segments begin with an individual story ("In the fall of 1995 Kelli Peterson, a senior at East High School in Salt Lake City, turned in her paperwork for a new afterschool club: the Gay-Straight Alliance"). The portrayal of the movement as a series of personal stories creates lively and engaging prose, though it sometimes leads to oversimplification. Controversies within the movement are presented as part of the narrative, but readers are not encouraged to think critically about which side they support. Activities presented in sidebars sometimes seem thought-provoking-asking an adult about their experience with boycotts-and sometimes less so-building a "teleidoscope," a sort of kaleidoscope invented by the Mattachine Society's founder. Overall, informative and appealingly told. (resource list, endnotes, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

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October 1, 2015

Gr 5-8-Tackling everything from Sappho, the Daughters of Bilitis, and the Lavender Menace to Dan Savage, Gladys Bentley, and Ellen DeGeneres, this title offers a comprehensive view of LGBTQ history. While the topic is often framed through the lens of marriage rights, this book provides a multifaceted perspective, emphasizing gay and lesbian figures' places in history. Readers learn that Louisa May Alcott, Maurice Sendak, Marlene Dietrich, Bayard Rustin, and Alan Turing were all members of the LGBTQ community, though many of them were not "out." Readers also gain an understanding of the scope of LGBTQ erasure that has occurred from Pohlen's discussion of how in Emily Dickinson's love poems the words she and her were changed to he and her. While many have whitewashed LGBTQ history, Pohlen discusses two transgender individuals of color who were present at Stonewall (both were teens at the time), Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. In addition, Pohlen emphasizes that while the Stonewall Riots were an important turning point in American history, they were not the only time that the queer community has stood up for its rights. The text is upbeat, conversational, and often humorous in tone. Smattered with compelling photographs, biographical sidebars, and interactive activities (of varying quality), this vital and inclusive history fleshes out the LGBTQ education readers have long been denied, bringing it to light and giving it the attention it deserves. VERDICT A necessary purchase for collections that serve middle grade and teenage patrons.-Ingrid Abrams, The Town School, New York City

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2015
Grades 7-10 From the classical to the contemporary, from Sappho to same-sex marriage, it's all here in the pages of Pohlen's exhaustive (and sometimes exhausting) history of homosexuality and the long-standing struggle for LGBTQ equality and civil rights. Arranged chronologically and abundantly illustrated with black-and-white photographs, the book begins with a brief survey of homosexual history to 1900 and then proceeds with a decade-by-decade review so encyclopedic as to be occasionally overwhelming. But this is a minor cavil about a book more intended as a conveyance of essential information rather than for pleasure reading. It duly evidences what a long and winding road LGBTQ rights has taken from past oppression. The book includes ample sidebars featuring hero profiles and activities, the latter of which seem of dubious value (write a free-verse poem, conduct an inkblot test) and intended for a younger audience than the bulk of the book. Nevertheless, this is an important resource that belongs in every collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)