A Queer History of the United States for Young People

Great information about the LGBTQIA+ history in the U.S.. Lots of examples of individuals and organizations who helped shape history throughout the years. At times, the writing was a bit bland, but overall a lovely read to become more informed.

I learned a lot about actual lgbtq figures and history, but as others have pointed out, the author's definitions of many identities are outdated or just plain wrong/problematic. (See: calling asexuality a “phase”, bisexuality as attraction to “both” genders in some places and “various” genders in the index, some weird language/pronouns around trans people but specifically Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, ignoring pansexuality except to equate it with being “sexually fluid”...)

The book could also be quite pedantic at times. I picked up the “for young people” version mostly because it was shorter than the original (still almost 300 pages).

This is a good book if you're already on the up and up as far as queer identities but lack a historical context. AKA, good context for Very Online lgbtq+ folks like me.