Stonewall

4.5 stars
Captivating, courageous, and compassionate. Bausum brings the Gay Rights movement to life for all of us!

I'm really glad this exists! It's a very readable, accessible book for teens about a hugely important event that is often overlooked by American history books. (I mean, I know I read [b:And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic 28212 And the Band Played On Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic Randy Shilts https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924077s/28212.jpg 1080309] when I was in high school, but that was extracurricular reading because that's the kind of nerd I was.) It's already–happily–out of date with its talk of gay marriage, but still a great look at just how hard it was to be a gay American in the 60s. (Not that it's a walk in the park now, but.) There's also a lot of interesting oral history in here, great eyewitness accounts and primary source documents. I already knew a lot of this stuff, but not all of it. (Like, I had never heard about protesters throwing the ashes of AIDS victims on the White House lawn in 1992 and I straight-up cried in the break room at work reading about it. JESUS.)Recommended for high school students for sure, and interested junior high kids could certainly understand it although there is some ~mature content~.