Flor Fights Back: A Stonewall Riots Survival Story

Girls Survive

by Joy Michael Ellison, Francesca Ficorilli (Illustrator)

After Flor's mother dies in early 1969, she is left with her grandmother who refuses to accept Flor's identity as a trans girl. Flor decides that in order to be true to herself, she must leave home. She makes friends with Tami, a trans teenager, and the two girls meet adults who help them make their way in the queer and trans community of New York City. Invited to meet up with some new friends, the girls sneak into the Stonewall Inn on a night that leads to a police raid and violence. Will Flor escape the riot and continue her fight to live as she is? Readers can learn the real story of the Stonewall Riots from the nonfiction back matter in this Girls Survive story. A glossary, discussion questions, and writing prompts are also provided.

Genres: Historical Fiction, LGBT, Middle Grade, Survival, Historical, Childrens, Banned Books

101 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

My name is Joy Michael Ellison. I am a writer, a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at University of Rhode Island, and a grassroots, community activist. I am interested in using stories, both fictional and true, to build community, document social movements, and imagine a liberated world. I believe that storytelling is integral to healing, transformation, resistance, and survival.

Reviews

[Kim Zoot Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This particular volume of this great series has gotten some negative press because it features at Trans girl and includes several LGBTQIA2S+ characters. Obviously, I’m not someone who is going to be flustered at just the existence of those people in a story, so I wanted to read this one to see if there were any concerns from my point of view.

I would say this story is probably more suitable for the 12+ age group, but not because of the presence of queer characters. It’s my experience that kids can understand different gender and sexual identities better than most grownups because they haven’t been boxed into binary understandings of gender and sexuality yet.

However, I do worry that the “runaway” part of this story could be a little mature for some kids. If I had a child read this, I feel like more of my follow-up conversations would be to make sure they understand how dangerous it would be for young children to wander around a big city alone and I’d want to have conversations with the reader about what might drive someone to run away, and maybe even talk about the character who actually got kicked out of their house. I think those conversations would be more challenging than any conversations around gender or sexual identity.

It’s a good story and I like seeing queer history brought onto children’s bookshelves. If you want to make sure more books like this are published, buy them or check them out from your library!

[Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter is obsessed with this series and asked me to read this one. ♥️♥️♥️

[Stephanie ((Strazzybooks)) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was cheering for Flor and her friends the whole way. An important addition to the Girls Survive series.

[Joey Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flors mama dies and is stuck with her grandma that won’t accept her for her, so she runs away finding Tami in Christopher Park, learning all about other girls like her, learning about drag queens and kings, learning how to stay safe in the city that they can be arrested for doing nothing. Then the police show up at stonewall, a place the LGBT+ community used as a safe place and riots and protests begin.

Well this is a very important part of history, this book is most especially important for the transgender community in which our protagonist character is a part of. Though it’s an important event it’s very heavy to read. The world we live in now is still not a safe place for the LGBT+ community, this book still holds so much relevance today. I appreciated that this book was written with so much knowledge and care around the topic, you could tell that the author wanted to carefully and considerably write this story. I really liked the way in which it was told.

Flor was a great character she was so withdrawn into herself and shy due to not being allowed to be who she was, to her world around her forcing her to be what she wasn’t. Having only her art to focus on as her form of comfort and safety. Then meeting Tami, meeting Jackie we started to see a change, a growth, a confidence. The shyness was always there but in the protest her voice was heard, her strength was revealed and her bravery shown through, to fighting alongside with her new found family.

I personally didn’t know all the details about this event in history though I knew a bit, I didn’t know enough, so was happy to have been able to learn so much whilst reading this and reading the authors note at the end. It’s an important topic to be learning about, though it’s a very heavy topic.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joy Michael Ellison does a really good job of presenting the events of the Stonewall Riots to the intended audience of this series. They found a good way of bringing a character in who wouldn't know the things that the audience might not, so the moments where it may feel exposition-heavy to older audiences make sense within the context of the story presented. It doesn't just teach about what it was like for young queer people at the time, but also gives minor lessons on homelessness as well. Ellison does a good job of writing TO the children who would be reading it, instead of down to them like some authors do.

[sylas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a rough read right now with so much anti-trans legislation being considered and passed across the country. And just the general hatred and violence the trans community faces consistently.

In 1969, Flor hopes that she and her friends help pave the way for future LGBTQIA+ kids, especially trans kids, by taking a stand. Flor talks about how she hopes kids like her aren't being kicked out by their parents, living on the streets, running from cops.

My hope is that kids who grow up getting to read books like this one will be able to make Flor's dreams a reality one day.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great story about a transgender girl who finds herself part of the riots at the stonewall inn. I have a personal pet peeve when I feel like a book was over simplified and written down to a specific level, rather than good writing that just happens to be a story for younger kids. I’d say the reading level was more 3rd grade, but the main character is 13, and I’d like to have seen a little more to it. That being said, this is a great addition to a series that kids love, and covers a lot of important topics including gender identity, unhoused youth, lgbtqia history, and more.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Girls Survive installment deals with controversial topics in an age-appropriate way, addressing common experiences for sexual minorities without getting into anything sexual. This book will be too mature for some of the youngest kids reading this series, since the Girls Survive books are at a very accessible reading level that attracts kids much younger than the characters, but this is suitable for peers of the twelve-year-old main character.

[Eva B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never did I think I'd see a book like this, so of course I had to make sure I checked it out and read it. Super cute with an adorable friendship at its core and a strong message of supporting each other with lots of appearances from important queer figures of the era. I'll definitely be checking out more of these Girls Survive books!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a great place to start for kids who want to understand 2SLGBTQIA+ history. The world often has a hard time accepting those that identify as something outside the “norm”, but they’re human with real feelings and emotions. They deserve love and a space to exist as much as anyone else.

[Sarah Meerkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very simple but still happy this is available for kids

[Erik Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful account of the Stonewall protests from the POV of a young trans girl whose family rejected, leading her to struggle on the streets to live her truth.

[Arlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read that will well your heart up with pride for the Community 🌈💕

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting event in history I knew nothing about!