The Stonewall Riots: Making a Stand for LGBTQ Rights

History Comics

by Archie Bongiovanni, A. Andrews (Illustrator)

Turn back the clock with History Comics! In this graphic novel, experience the Stonewall Riots firsthand and meet iconic activists like Marsha P. Johnson and Silvia Rivera.

Three teenagers—Natalia, Jax, and Rashad—are magically transported from their modern lives to the legendary Stonewall Inn in the summer of 1969. Escorted by Natalia's eccentric Abuelita (and her pet cockatiel, Rocky), the friends experience the police raid firsthand and are thrown into the infamous riots that made the struggle for LGBTQ rights front-page news.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History, LGBT, Middle Grade, Nonfiction, Queer, Comics

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 24, 2022

Reviews

[bri 🧸 · Rating 4 out of 5]

such an important comic 🥹

[Karen Meno · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointed read about a significant event in history. The writing reads like a history text. The time travel is a worn device and is not a good fit. The characters are teens but are completely clueless about the struggles faced by the LGBTQ community which is odd considering the students are involved in a LGBTQ organization at their school. The grandmother reveals she had a girlfriend when she was young but that wasn’t acceptable so she got married and had children. There is no reflection on this revelation by any of the characters. They just leap into the 1960s. So much of this is written about so casually and flippantly that the subject matter is not given the gravity and respect it deserves. Disappointing.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-done bit of educational historical fiction gives a brief overview of the Stonewall uprisings and the oppressive, institutionalized homophobia they were protesting. To hook young readers, some LGBTQIA+ teens from the present day time travel to the event through the magic of a grandmother's storytelling and spend a lot of time coming to appreciate how much better some things have become since and how other things are still just as bad.

[Ashley G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age range for this is probably going to be 8 to 10 depending on maturity. This was a very mild retelling of what happened at Stonewall which is appropriate for the age that this is geared toward. Beautifully illustrated and brief. A reminder to our youth that the freedoms they enjoy were fought for.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bit dry, tho it tries hard.

Main takeaway: no one got their rights by asking nicely.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter is important. The story reveals in more detail how the Police harassed LGBTQ - i.e. checking their IDs and arresting them if more than two items of clothing were not consistent with their ID gender. I give it two stars more from the graphic novel perspective. As a graphic novel, the drawing and storytelling is too simplistic and rushed. The characters, aside from abuela, are not very engaging. I suspect because the three characters are more stereotypes than individuals, at least that was how I reacted to them. Abuela is more flushed out because of the photograph and because of her unique history. If you want your reader to care about your subject, they have to care about the characters. I don't believe a book gets a free pass because the subject matter is near and dear to the reviewer. I've read other books in the series and the quality is inconsistent. This is because the authors are different as is the subject matter in each book. I read them with a discerning eye because I want to convince my teenagers to read them. They are less forgiving than I am. This one I know will fail to hold their attention - and not because of the subject matter.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Stonewall Riots doesn't offer much beyond Wikipedia regarding the titular event, but it's a welcome showcase for LGBTQ heroes and the importance of resistance. The framing story is weak even by this series' standards...and yet, it drew me in well enough to appreciate the history. Certainly not the strongest History Comic, but not one to skip either.

[timber rose, book witch (semi-hiatus)]

dnf after 15 pages, maybe will give it a try again later in june after i finish other books on my list. i don't ever review dnfs but this i felt a need to. it felt uncomfortably out of touch in perspective. a queer grandmother takes her queer granddaughter and friends back through time to understand queer culture, oppression, and fights for equality in the 60s, specifically surrounding the stonewall riots. this was done clumsily in a way that didn't quite sit right with me. considering the age of the grandkids was minimum teenagers, and they were all in their school's lgbt alliance, the level of cluelessness was not believable. they were completely shocked that queer people ever faced violence in the united states, and with the internet and types of violence school children are trained to face today, that perspective is likely almost extinct. what was really the icing on the cake for me was having a queer black character try to prove a point by going up to two white men in business suits to ask where to find other queer people to make friends with in the 1960s. i'm sorry but i don't believe that one lick. i can see where the author may have been trying to appeal to a young, young middle grade audience with the type of questioning attitude of "no way?! this can't be true?!" to encourage those with a beginner's perspective. but i really can't reconcile that with the execution. at times it even felt strangely close to one of those nonfiction novels where the author is a boomer who dunks on younger generations for not being able to see the world outside of their phones. simply not the vibes i was looking for unfortunately; but i still have some hope for other works of this author in my tbr.

not giving a star rating because 1) i didn't get far enough and 2) this clearly impacted and educated others effectively.

[Manon the Malicious · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

History Comics: The Stonewall Riots takes up back to those nights in 1969 inside and outside of the Stonewall Inn. Literally, characters from our time, Natalia, Jax and Rashad, are thrown back in time by Natalia's abuela and live the events for themselves.

I hadn't read the summary before reading or requesting this, and I was not expecting this. I was really expecting a more scholar version of the events, but that's my bad for not reading synopsis.
Overall, I liked this okay, but it's definitely aimed at teens and younger, I don't feel like I learned much and it mostly just made me want to read more about those nights and Queer history in general.
Still, I could recommend this to kids and I feel like the comic format was pretty smart, also while I didn't connect with all the characters, I did really feel a sort of connection with Natalia and I enjoyed following her the most.

All in all, a fast read that could have been more in depth but still teaches the basic of this historic moment.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this at a comic book shop in Portland and thought why not. It’s a graphic novel telling of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
I had high hopes for it. Stonewall was instrumental for LGBT rights. I had listened to a podcast about the riots so I was curious to see how this book told the story.

It’s a very sanitized version of the riots. It is told through three LGBT youth who go back in time after learning that one of their grandmothers was gay. The three teens that go back in time, are very superficial, and they almost do this incident a disservice. I understand that you want to make the story accessible to a younger audience, but at the same time, you are doing the movement a disservice with this portrayal. It doesn’t focus so much on what that group of people went through, and more on the superficial bullshit of the young teens. I wanted to like this book more, because I feel it tells an important story. I hope that in the future somebody else will do the story justice in this medium.

[Aubrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel was so informative! It would be a great way to teach young people about the Stonewall riots, what led to them, and what they did for the LGBTQIA+ movement as a whole. Even though it’s targeted towards younger people, I found myself learning quite a few things that I didn’t know about the riots, and I really enjoyed this because of that!

In this graphic novel, a few LGBTQ+ teens get transported back in time to June 1969 to experience the Stonewall riots in person, through the magic of their grandmother’s storytelling. It goes through a quick timeline of the riots and also goes into a timeline of the LGBTQIA+ movement in general, including a few pages about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There was a lot of information packed into this graphic novel, but it was handled in a teachable and digestible way! It also showed that while things have gotten better since 1969, there’s still a lot more work to do today.

I really appreciated the fact that this featured real LGBTQIA+ activists from 1969, like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Stormé DeLarverie who all played a major part in the riots, the Gay Liberation Front, and much more. It was also nice to see the growth of the teenage characters throughout the graphic novel as they started to truly understand what it was like for LGBTQIA+ people back then, and realizing that there’s still so much to do today.

Overall I’m really glad I read this one! This taught you a lot of lessons throughout, including that there are multiple ways to stand up for something you’re passionate about and the fight for LGBTQIA+ equality is far from over. I definitely think young people (and adults too!) might benefit from reading this to learn a little more about this part of history!

🎧📚

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very quick read which provided a very high level overview of the infamous Stonewall Riots, said to informally mark the start of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement, though the author points out there were many smaller protests and uprisings occurring around the country for years prior to the Stonewall Riots.

The graphic novel is a fictionalized account and the author notes it is a history from one person's perspective. The effect was to help this reader better understand and more closely empathize with the LGBTQIA+ community at the center of these discriminatory abuses and the resulting protests and uprisings (a more fitting description of what went on than simply "riot").

I recommend that everyone buy and read this book and everything else you can get your hands on about the struggles of all oppressed peoples around the world and the efforts by many to further discriminate and oppress these people. (I'm looking at you, Trump, Putin, Gaetz, MTG, SCOTUS, McConnell, etc.)

[dobbs the dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received from NetGalley, thanks!

This was a good overview of what led to the Stonewall Riots in 1969. I liked that it also gave a bit of history of actions that occurred prior to Stonewall, as well as some highlights of what has come since, with an overall sense that there is still a lot of work to be done.

[t. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from my brother before he returned it to the library and I really enjoyed it. It's an important historical event introduced to young readers through the lens of teens experiencing it. I liked the recap of the strides/progress that has happened since and what work continues to be needed. 5/5

[kaitlphere · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the depiction of the people involved in the Stonewall Riots, both fictional and real. I liked the diversity of the focus characters, including diversity in age and preferred activism style. There were a few times where I feel like the kids were depicted as unrealistically selfish and technology dependent.

[Meredith Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

A great addition to the History Comics series. Three teens, along with one's abuela, find themselves traveling through time back to the Stonewall Riots in 1969, learning firsthand what happened and how it still affects them as LGBTQ+ teens living in today's world.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This definitely skews younger—it’s a very introductory look a Stonewall. Somewhat cheesy as well, but still a great entry point for someone wanting to understand the significance of this event in the timeline of LGBTQ rights. Glossary of terms is also helpful.

[Molly]

I was really excited for this, but it fell flat for me. I'm so glad that information about Stonewall exists for young readers, but overall this was pretty dry with little discussion of character motivation. Not the best, not the worst.

[Readasaurus Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Quick and easy read. Great if you want to know a bit about the Sonewall Riots. Sadly, it seems that many people want to bring these struggles back to America and once again oppress the LGBT community.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of lgbt teenagers and their elderly friend get sucked back in time to the 1960s. They experience the Stonewall Riots in person and discover different ways that they can advocate for lgbt people in the present. #NetGalley

[Sally Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book! I loved all the history and I felt like I understood everything better. So grateful for the riots that caused todays changes.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been better without the time travel aspect, focusing more on the history and making the real people the main characters

[TheNextGenLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great way to share information about the Stonewall Riots that many don’t even know about.

[Vicki Scullion · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very mild explanation of the Stonewall Riots in the 1960s. I would think it would be suitable for middle schoolers who are interested in learning more about the history of LGBTQ protests.

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping I’d like this more than I actually did. A graphic novel history of the Stonewall Uprising sounds really good right? But this is fictionalized - a story that sends modern teens back to the 1960’s with grandma as a guide. The big reveal is that grandma had a girlfriend at the time but felt societal pressure to get married & have kids & leave that life behind.
The art is alright & there is clearly some good historical research behind the story but I was hoping for something meatier to share with my students.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Marisa Gettas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not up to the high quality of this series, imo. Still good, and I would recommend, but ymmv, of course

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I have somewhat mixed feelings about this graphic novel, and they're mostly to do with the framing device. Bongiovanni decided to show the events of the Stonewall Riots through the eyes of three modern teenagers, who travel back in time with the grandmother of one of them. On one hand, I liked how this device allowed Bongiovanni to explore just how much has changed in terms of safety and visibility for LGBT+ people, and how each teen showcased different coping strategies: one wants to ignore the issues and have fun, one wants to run away and hide, and one wants to take immediate action. They each learn that their initial instincts aren't sufficient, and return to the modern day determined to do better. So far, so good. But I can't help but feel that concentrating so much on three fictional, time-traveling teens distracted from the real history. Which is a shame, because Bongiovanni does an excellent job of setting up what life was like for LGBT+ people at the time and why the Stonewall Riots were so important, without painting it as either a beginning or ending for the movement. I think young readers will get a lot out of this book, especially perspective, which is why I'm willing to overlook that I'm not in love with the framing device.

[Lizzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t like the art or awkward forced story of time travelling youths and a useless bird. The history is fascinating but putting a block of historical info into a text bubble and calling it good is really lazy. The characters are shallow cardboard cutouts. “Man these Gen Z LGBT kids, they have it so easy, they can’t imagine life without cell phones!!!” Cringetastic. The other books that work better in this series focus on a theme rather than one event, and I think that would’ve been better for this one too. There’s historical context tacked on randomly at the end. Overall this book is just a mess.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ✨Clean and well-illustrated re-telling of not just Stonewall Riots but brief history of other profound LGBTQ events by three time-traveling teens and an eccentric grand mom. Interesting that it was produced using Procreate…wishing there was more information on this sketching process, as some graphic novels provide.