Disclaimer: I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets is a middle grade non-fiction book about the events before, during, and after the Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969.

This non-fiction book is designed around artifacts of major events pertaining to the Stonewall Riots. Each document may be something like a newspaper article, a button, an arrest sheet, or pictures. When I first started reading, I was a little hesitant about this style, but I quickly became fascinated by it.

It was extremely well put together, and together, it told a very cohesive recounting of the key events in recent LGBT+ history. At no point did the text seem disjointed. The author also solidly explained some of the terminology that was used as slurs then (and are still used now as slurs), and while I wish that the author had chosen not to include them, I can understand why they would.

Overall, this is a very good introduction to those in the middle-grade category about this historic event and will keep them engaged with the short chapters and pictures.

This is a much needed book for classrooms and libraries. I especially appreciated that details and occurrences were not toned down for the audience, and I loved that the book not only dealt with the Stonewall Riots, but the history that lead into them, as well as what happened after. It was a nice look at society as a whole and how it affected LGBTQ+ individuals through a lens that is both for younger readers, but doesn't talk down to them.

Although I"ve heard about Stonewall, I didn't know everything, and not only does this book tell you what happened, but what lead to it. There are so many other stories within the LGBTQ+ history that without them, Stonewall would've have happened. It gives more information than I expected, like important people during that time period who aren't as recognized.

It's a great, informational read, and I highly recommend it to anyone, but especially those wanting to know more about the movement and how far we've come, because once you read what it was like for community in the early '50s-'70s, you'll realize what Stonewall did for us LGBTQ+ members today.