Dear Martin by Nic Stone: A Review

Dear Martin by Nic Stone follows a young African-American teen named Justyce McAllister.  The opening chapter focuses on Justyce trying to help his drunk ex-girlfriend get home safely from a convenience store parking lot.  He attempts to take her car keys away from her so she doesn't drive and hurt others or herself, but his ex-girlfriend fights him.  Once he is able to get her into the passenger side of the car, a police officer comes up and handcuffs Justyce for hours.  He is eventually released, but he is obviously shaken by the event.

This book follows Justyce, a top student at his private school, as he does a year of experimenting; he wants to be more like Martin Luther King, Jr.  In his classes, Justyce often discusses current events and issues with his teachers and classmates.  Discussions of police brutality take on new meaning and urgency for Justyce after his experience with the police.  As events unfold around him, Justyce often stops to write letters to Martin describing his feelings, whether it is his feelings about a police officer in the news NOT being indicted for shooting an unarmed black teen or his feelings about his classmates' racist remarks.

This is an extremely powerful book. I loved Justyce and the characters who surround him.  I don't want to spoil the book, but at a certain point something just horrible happens and Justyce's life is turned upside down.  I was riveted by the events and Justyce's reactions to them. 

This is a perfect book for readers who are interested in current events and the Black Lives Matter movement.  Readers who have read The Hate U Give will likely connect with this novel.   

Available at AHS, BCHS, and GVHS.