Review: DEAR MARTIN

Title: DEAR MARTIN
Author: Nic Stone
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 210
Format: Hardcover
ARC?: No
MG, YA, ADULT: YA
TW/CW: Racism, death of a character, violence, gun violence, underage drinking.
Rating: 5/5

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.

Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.

DEAR MARTIN is a masterpiece.

I usually can’t connect with characters in books that are as short as this one, especially when they contain such heavy themes. But Nic Stone makes you care about Justyce from the very beginning. She makes you care about his story, his letters to Martin, and who he shares his heart with.

What really makes this book work, despite how short it is, is how realistic Justyce is. He could literally be your classmate, your best friend, that kid down the street- he’s just real. He had a strong character arc and I loved seeing his thought process as he dealt with every day stuff like classes and girls, but also dealing with heavier things like being Black in a predominately white school, police brutality, and intercommunity issues. Stone did an amazing job showcasing how Justyce felt excluded at school and at home.

It was also so important to see Sarah Jane apologize for speaking over Justyce in class and I hope more books focus on this. Yes, she was sticking up for him, but white allies need to learn how to boost PoC/Native voices without talking over them. To see a white character do that and then realize their mistake was pretty awesome.

I’ve seen a lot of people compare DEAR MARTIN to THE HATE U GIVE and while I agree there are a lot of similarities (characters living through police brutality and having their lives changed forever), DEAR MARTIN packed a harder punch to me. It says so much without saying much at all and while I loved THUG, DEAR MARTIN made me openly cry. This should be required reading for every student.

I can’t write a review that would adequately explain how important this novel is. I just can’t, so I won’t try.

Read this book.

 

Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, GA, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. After graduating from Spelman College, she worked extensively in teen mentoring and lived in Israel for a few years before returning to the US to write full-time. Growing up with a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds, Stone strives to bring these diverse voices and stories to her work.

You can find more about Nic on her website or on twitter.