Illustrated by Harry Woodgate
4 stars
A great concept for a book. This collection of poems highlights various LGBTQ+ heroes throughout American history. Paired with each poem is a short biography with some of the major events in the person’s life and gorgeous illustrations from Woodgate centering joy and community.
This is a nice resource for learning about LGBTQ+ history and activism. It includes both historical and contemporary icons, from Harvey Milk and Marsha P. Johnson, to Cleve Jones and Gilbert Baker, to Pauline Park and Ernestine Eckstein. A nice variety of people included from the trans, gay, lesbian, and drag communities.
Each poem also uses a different style, which are explained in the back. These range from found poetry to duets, free verse to senryu, limericks to rhyming couplets. This also makes it a great book for learning about poetry styles and works well for pairing with creative writing exercises.
The stories include themes of nonviolence, activism, protests, community, politics, family, and equality.
At the back, there is also a glossary of words with accessible definitions as well as a list of additional readings for more about those highlighted and about broader queer history.
As always, Woodgate’s illustrations are absolutely beautiful. They emanate pride, joy, and love.
A great resource for learning about LGBTQ+ history, activism, and poetry.