A young person I know is questioning their identity, and I -- without a lot of experience in this arena -- am doing my best to be helpful and supportive. I gave this book to them as a gift -- and as a gesture to show that I'm trying.

Intended for younger readers, LGBTQ+ Heroes: 51 Inspiring Icons Who Changed the World is a collection of brief biographical sketches of people within the community who have made significant contributions to the arts, sciences, politics or other field. Many of the names in the book were unfamiliar to me, while others were quite well known -- the likes of Sally Ride, Billie Eilish, Elliott Page, Harvey Milk, Alan Turing, RuPaul, Angela Davis, Oscar Wilde, Laverne Cox and Pete Buttigieg, to name just a few.

The bios are brief, just a few pages each, but they still provide a good overview of that chapter's historical figure. Each chapter is sensitively written by L.V. Heston -- a first-time author and an editorial manager at Oxford University Press -- providing plenty of information on the subjects while not overloading the young reader with excessive (or boring) details. Each chapter is also accompanied by an illustrated portrait of the subject by Helder Oliveira.

This is a good book, covering its topic well and providing young, questioning readers with some inspiration no matter what direction they find themselves going. It's the third book in a series called History's Greatest Heroes, by various authors, with the first two focusing on Black Heroes and Heroes of World War II.

As for the person I gave this to ... it didn't take long until I started seeing the book at different locations in the house, always with the bookmark a little further along. When I asked for a second opinion on it, I got a smile. I count that as a win!