I was fortunate enough to receive an advance reader copy of Nic Stone’s Dear Martin, because she and I share the same literary agent. And because I’d seen everyone posting about her fabulous book, I asked for one of my own.
I was not disappointed.
Dear Martin is a fantastic look at the issues that beset black teenagers in a white America. In Dear Martin, protagonist Justyce McAllister writes a series of journal letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., trying to discover for himself whether King’s teachings still apply in a world like this one.
Here are 3 things I enjoyed most about Dear Martin:
- The issue: Stone captured perfectly the tension between living in a white world and being a victim of the while world. Justyce is a black teen who attends a private school and is headed to an Ivy League School. He has it all figured out until one day everything changes.
- The element of debate: Some of the larger issues that crop up around racial relations and prejudice are addressed throughout Dear Martin using debate form. Jus and his friend, Sarah-Jane, are on a debate team, and they tackle loaded subjects like racial inequality and police brutality. It was a brilliant way to present the arguments of opposing views.
- The emotional side: While there was plenty of action that happened in Dear Martin, what stood out most about the book was its emotional undercurrent. Jus was so torn between what he was expected to do and what he needed to do to survive; this tension carried the story along even more swiftly than the action. It was an important interpretation of what it’s like to be a black teen in America.
Dear Martin will definitely be required reading for my white sons, when they’re old enough to digest it.
*The above are affiliate links. I only recommend books that I personally enjoy. I actually don’t even talk about the books I don’t enjoy, because I’d rather forget I ever wasted time reading them. But if you’re ever curious whether I’ve read a book and whether I liked or disliked it, don’t hesitate to ask.
