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DEAR MARTIN

by Nic Stone ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 2017

Though constrained, the work nevertheless stands apart in a literature that too often finds it hard to look hard truths in...

In this roller-coaster ride of a debut, the author summons the popular legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. to respond to the recent tragic violence befalling unarmed black men and boys.

Seventeen-year-old black high school senior Justyce McAllister, a full-scholarship student at the virtually all-white Braselton Prep, is the focus. After a bloody run-in with the police when they take his good deed for malice, Justyce seeks meaning in a series of letters with his “homie” Dr. King. He writes, “I thought if I made sure to be an upstanding member of society, I’d be exempt from the stuff THOSE black guys deal with, you know?” While he’s ranked fourth in his graduating class and well-positioned for the Ivy League, Justyce is coming to terms with the fact that there’s not as much that separates him from “THOSE black guys” as he’d like to believe. Despite this, Stone seems to position Justyce and his best friend as the decidedly well-mannered black children who are deserving of readers’ sympathies. They are not those gangsters that can be found in Justyce’s neighborhood. There’s nuance to be found for sure, but not enough to upset the dominant narrative. What if they weren’t the successful kids? While the novel intentionally leaves more questions than it attempts to answer, there are layers that still remain between the lines.

Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-101-93949-9

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

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IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.

In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me , three characters tell their sides of the story.

Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781728276229

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE

More by Laura Nowlin

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

by Laura Nowlin

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

IF HE HAD BEEN WITH ME

by Laura Nowlin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.

The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.

Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.

Pub Date: April 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5

Page Count: 336

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

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Mississippi Today

Pulitzer Prize-winning Nonprofit News

‘Dear Martin’ will make most readers uncomfortable — and it should

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book review on dear martin

Her bestselling debut Dear Martin was born in response to a specific political narrative blasted across news media whenever an unarmed black teenager is killed: Maybe we wouldn’t see so many young black men slain by police if these kids weren’t in the wrong place, wearing the wrong clothes at the wrong time.

Using highly empathetic young characters, Stone directly combats that narrative to show it as unhelpful at best, and harmful at worst.

“My goal was to dismantle the myth that if you are doing everything right, nothing bad will happen to you,” she says. “Every time a black boy is killed you see that argument come out all over the place — there are so many reasons (given) that a black boy’s death is his own fault and often those reasons are the notions of stereotypes.”

Enter Justyce McAllister, a 17-year-old African American honor student and debate team captain on his way to Yale. Justyce plays by the rules that his Atlanta private school — full of privilege, opportunity, wealth and mostly people who don’t look like him — and society set for him, but the finish line keeps getting pushed further away.

book review on dear martin

After being profiled and falsely arrested, Justyce embarks on a social experiment to emulate his hero, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Writing letters to King, Justyce explores and analyzes the racism he faces daily through the lens of civil disobedience asking himself in diary entries, “What would Martin do?”

Justyce is particularly compelled by King’s definition of integration, which throughout the book, he comes to understand as more than just the elimination of segregation. If true integration by King’s own definition is “inter-group and interpersonal living,” Justyce can’t help but wonder why more people in school don’t look like him.

He still faces daily discrimination by classmates who claim to be “colorblind.” He still feels like he doesn’t belong in either of his separate worlds as he attempts to straddle both — he knows he’s seen as a “sellout” to his childhood friends and neighbors and as “the token black kid” and affirmative action beneficiary in the eyes of his mostly white classmates. And worst of all (*story spoiler*), he now lives with the permanent echo of police brutality that left him with a gunshot wound and killed his best friend.

book review on dear martin

No matter what rules Justyce plays by, he can’t win.

This book is for everyone. It’s for teachers who want a book palatable to young people who both have and have not faced discrimination. It’s for young people who feel like they don’t belong. It’s for adults and teenagers alike who grapple with what seems like never-ending police brutality and wonder how it keeps getting excused away in our political narrative. It’s for those who relate to the police perspective, but want to understand a young black man’s experience, too.

Stone puts us smack in the shoes of a teenager who — on top of dealing with normal teen stuff like young love, changing and challenged friendships, grades and college applications — knows what it’s like to face the pistol of a police officer and live to tell about it. Through Justyce, Stone illuminates the all-too-common aftermath narrative that is largely spun by people who weren’t there and likely never will be.

And for the forthcoming sequel, Stone plans to focus on the flip side of the story — the kid who doesn’t get access to private school education and takes a different path. “I want to look at that kid as well because they are just as worthy and just as needing, if not more needing, of our empathy and our compassion as the kid who’s doing well,” she said. “And honestly, books are the best way for people to have the opportunity to experience the life of someone else.”

Nic Stone will appear on the panel, “Hope (Nation) and Other Four-Letter Words,” at 10:45 a.m. at Galloway Sanctuary. Other panelists include Rose Brock, Becky Albertalli, Julie Murphy, Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.

book review on dear martin

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by Erica Hensley, Mississippi Today August 13, 2018

This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2018/08/13/dear-martin-book-review/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/MT_icon-logo-favicon-1.png?fit=134%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=178268" style="width:1px;height:1px;">

Erica Hensley

Erica Hensley, a native of Atlanta, has been working as an investigative reporter focusing on public health for Mississippi Today since May 2018. She is a Knight Foundation fellow for our newsroom’s collaboration with local TV station WLBT and curates The Inform[H]er, our monthly women and girls’ newsletter. She is the 2019 recipient of the Doris O'Donnell Innovations in Investigative Journalism Fellowship. Erica received a bachelor’s in print journalism and political science from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and a master’s in health and medical journalism from the University of Georgia Grady College for Journalism and Mass Communication.

book review on dear martin

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Book review: “Dear Martin” is powerful and enthralling

Nic Stone’s enthralling debut novel, “Dear Martin,” gives a powerful and honest look at racism in America.

Edward Keen , Arts Editor | September 18, 2018

The+original+cover+for+Dear+Martin.+

The original cover for “Dear Martin.”

“Dear Martin,” written by Nic Stone , is a brutally honest, captivating novel that expertly discusses and portrays racism in our society. Although the novel is Stone’s very first, I found myself thoroughly impressed by the way she simultaneously skirted through themes of racism and ethnic profiling while also creating raw, believable characters. Through a blend of classroom discussions, unsparing accounts of racism and well-crafted dialogue, Stone created a novel that not only gives off a clear message but also shows an accurate portrayal of the life of a black teenager in this day and age.

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The book focuses on Justyce McAllister, who has just about everything going right in his life. He goes to an elite school, he’s a high-ranking member of the debate club and will attend Yale University. One day, an incident in which he is brutalized by a cop causes him to question racial issues in today’s society. He decides to start a project called “Dear Martin” where he writes a series of letters to the deceased Martin Luther King Jr . As he is tested by classmates and society, he only has one question: what would Martin do?

From the very beginning, Justyce proved himself to be an empathetic protagonist. There was a clear thought process behind every action he made, especially in times when he was subject to a great number of dilemmas over what choice he should make and how it would affect himself and those in his surroundings. He never refrained from speaking questions, and was direct with his thought processes. Despite any preconceived notions about his race, Justyce always did what he felt was not necessarily always the right choice but the best he could come up with.

In addition, the story’s further cast of characters are all well-written and thought out; each character feels like a real person from society, and they are all reflective of the attitudes people of all walks of life contain today. The dialogue and interactions between the novel’s characters felt natural, especially flowing well in the context of the story.

One character that stood out, in particular, was Manny. His character is practically the complete opposite of Justyce: he was born into a rich family, he generally refrained from hanging out with people of his own race and he didn’t bother questioning issues;  he always complied when his peers made racist remarks. However, as the story progresses, his character opens his eyes to problems in today’s society and begins to see the injustices clearly. The immense character development made Manny one of the most memorable characters and shows that even the most reluctant people can change.

The book’s chapters alternate between detailing Justyce’s encounters and his letters written to Martin Luther King. I particularly enjoyed reading the letters for multiple reasons. For one, they were able to draw parallels between what is going on today and how it is not that different than what happened during MLK’s time . Even though years upon years have passed, the letters clearly show how the issues that should’ve been resolved a long time ago still occur time and time again today.

These letters also add to Justyce’s character. The story portion of the novel is written in a third-person perspective, so while you get to learn and understand Justyce, you can’t get too much of a feel of his inner thoughts and feelings that he doesn’t portray to others. The letters, however, fill in gaps in readers’ understanding. 

The writing itself was generally another shining point. Stone’s writing style is straightforward and concise, describing everything as it is without overcomplicating the plot. It is written in a way that allows all kinds of audiences to understand it, even if you don’t consider yourself an avid reader. Whether she is writing a classroom discussion, or a gripping scene of slander, Stone handles all the content of the story in a thoughtful manner that never ceases to impress. The only complaint is the present-tense method in which she pens the non-letter scenes, which can disrupt the otherwise perfect flow of the story.

Stone handles all the content of the story in a thoughtful manner that never ceases to impress

“Dear Martin” gives a thought-provoking look at society, and never shies away from demonstrating the issues that still exist today. I think that this book is a must-read for everyone because of its powerful messages and demonstrations; while the book specifically talks about racism in America, its themes can also apply to many other injustices in the world. With “Dear Martin,” Stone is looking to have a bright future in writing ahead of her in the literary field. 

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November 7, 2017 by Amanda MacGregor

Book Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

November 7, 2017 by Amanda MacGregor   Leave a Comment

CLICK IMAGES TO SEE LARGER VERSION (WHEN AVAILABLE)

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Publisher’s description

dear martin

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.

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Amanda’s thoughts

This book is a powerful and incredibly nuanced look at racism, police brutality, privilege, profiling, and so much more. The thing I kept writing in my notes was “it’s all so very complicated.” And, of course, it IS—you don’t need to know anything about the plot specifics to look at the list of topics it touches on to know it’s complicated. But Justyce’s thoughts, his experiences, the moves he makes/considers/rejects are all so VERY complex. I was completely wrapped up in this story, which I read in one sitting. There is not just one “incident” in this book. Justyce is handcuffed and assaulted by a cop when he’s seen helping his drunk ex-girlfriend into her car in the middle of the night. He’s seen an endless stream of stories in the news about unarmed black kids wrongfully arrested and/or killed, but he never thought it would happen to him. As Justyce says, he’s not “threatening” like some of the kids he’s seen on the news can be/look (his thoughts, not mine). It’s an eye-opening experience, one that prompts him to begin writing letters to Dr. King as he tries to work out his thoughts and works to begin to really see more of what is going on all around him.

There are other incidents that change the way Justyce sees things: his best friend Manny’s cousin, Quan, is charged with murdering a cop. His classmate Jared (and others, but Jared is the worst) spouts off endlessly about how color-blind America is and how everyone here is equal. There are intense classroom conversations about race, police, equality, and privilege that lead Justyce to some new thoughts and to see his peers in different lights. Justyce seeks solutions and ways to handle things like classmates seeing nothing wrong with wearing blackface, dressing up as KKK members for Halloween, and completely being oblivious to their own privilege. Justyce grapples with the trauma of his profiling arrest through all of this—it’s never far from his mind. His best times are with Manny or with Sarah-Jane, who is Jewish and his debate partner (and who he is totally crushing on—but, like everything else, that’s complicated).

book review on dear martin

The story really ramps up when, partway through, Manny and Justyce encounter an angry, racist, off-duty cop while blaring their music at a stoplight. What happens here, and after, is heartbreaking, profoundly moving, and often incredibly infuriating. This stunning debut is captivating, raw, and immensely readable. I would love to see this used in classrooms or book clubs and hear the conversations it would generate. This important and thoughtful look at racism, and many issues stemming from and surrounding racism, should be in all teen collections.  A must-read. I can’t wait to see what else Nic Stone writes. 

ISBN-13: 9781101939499 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books Publication date: 10/17/2017

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About Amanda MacGregor

Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on Twitter @CiteSomething.

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Social Justice Books

Critically reviewed selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.

Dear Martin

Reviewed by  zetta elliott.

When a friend asked me last fall to address the problems she found in  Dear Martin , I hedged. Few people thanked me for pointing out the issues I had with  All American Boys  (though many were quick to praise Jason Reynolds for his “gracious” response), and I didn’t want to become known for “targeting” or “picking on” Black authors when so few of us manage to get published. But in the end, I decided something needed to be said because I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in publishing: novels by Black authors about police violence against Black boys where White girls take center stage.

I decided not to blog about  The Truth of Right Now  (2017) by Kara Lee Corthron when I read it last fall. Another friend urged me to read that YA novel; he found the writing superior to  The Hate U Give (2017) and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t garnering equal attention. It’s a very different kind of story; a White girl attempts suicide after being raped and exploited by a White male teacher at her high school; when Lily meets Dari, an artistic Black boy with an abusive father and absent mother, her outlook on life changes and she invites him to move in with her and her mother.

Dari then becomes the object of desire for both mother and daughter, and the novel concludes with an ugly confrontation in the street with police. When Lily denies knowing Dari, he is brutalized by police and hospitalized. It was clear to me why this novel didn’t achieve the blockbuster status of THUG, and I wondered why such a strong writer would choose to tell this particular story. I support the right of artists to create freely, but with so few Black female YA authors getting published it’s frustrating to see several choosing to put the focus on Black boys and White girls. Where does that leave Black girls? Continue reading .

Dear Martin

Publisher's Synopsis: "Raw and gripping." -JASON REYNOLDS, New York Times bestselling coauthor of All American Boys "A must-read!" -ANGIE THOMAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate You Give Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning New York Times bestselling debut, a William C. Morris Award Finalist. Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend--but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. 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. "Vivid and powerful." -Booklist, Starred Review "A visceral portrait of a young man reckoning with the ugly, persistent violence of social injustice." - Publishers Weekly

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December 13, 2019 at 12:56 PM

i like this book soooooo muchhhhhh…

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Dear justyce: dear martin, book 2, common sense media reviewers.

book review on dear martin

Moving story of teen caught in unfair justice system.

Dear Justyce: Dear Martin, Book 2 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

The Author's Note mentions the "school-to-prison p

Everyone needs someone who believes in them no mat

Quan is a good role model for communication, integ

A young boy witnesses the brutal arrest of his fat

Mention of seeing a couple kiss. Several mentions

"Bulls---tin'," "s--t," "duck-ass," "a--hole," "ni

A couple of snack, clothing, and book/movie franch

Teens vape marijuana because they've sworn off blu

Parents need to know that Nic Stone's Dear Justyce is a sequel to her popular Dear Martin . The story revolves around a couple of incidents of police brutality and excessive force that echo several real-life tragic deaths, so it might trigger powerful emotions in readers who reacted strongly to those…

Educational Value

The Author's Note mentions the "school-to-prison pipeline" and encourages readers to look it up. It also clarifies some differences in the way the legal system works in real life vs. the way it was depicted in the story. And it encourages readers to look for ways they can make a positive impact on somone who may be struggling. The story itself addresses lots of important issues surrounding the effects that lack of support and opportunity have on low-income families, and especially on Black children and young men.

Positive Messages

Everyone needs someone who believes in them no matter what. Everyone also needs positive role models who can offer guidance and demonstrate what can be achieved and what a happy, healthy life looks like. Children need guidance from people who have high expectations and push them to achieve what they don't think they can, or to see possibilities they don't know exist for themselves. The Author's Note tells readers that each one is important and has a lot to contribute no matter how they feel, and not to let anyone else convince them otherwise.

Positive Role Models

Quan is a good role model for communication, integrity, perseverance, and self-control. From a young age he tries to cope with uncertainty and post-traumatic stress by staying focused on his siblings and schoolwork. When he reconnects with an old friend they write letters to each other and Quan is able to open up about his feelings. Justyce is a good role model for high academic achievement, for being a loyal and supportive friend, and for finding a practical way to make a real difference in Quan's life. There are plenty of negative role models, and it's very clear they're not examples to follow. Eventually Quan is helped by a team of people who believe him, believe in him, and care about what happens to him, and help the judicial system start working in Quan's favor. In terems of representation, the main characters are strong role models and positive representations of African Americans in different circumstances. A couple of characters are gay, and Quan has a positive experience staying with a same-sex couple of Black men.

Violence & Scariness

A young boy witnesses the brutal arrest of his father during which his father is knocked unconscious by a police officer and the boy is grabbed, dragged, and squeezed so tightly he can't breathe. A confrontation with police ends in shots being fired and a police officer being killed. Domestic violence is implied from sounds of violence and bruises. A past incident is remembered of being thrown across a room into a table. Mention that a woman's boyfriend takes out his anger on her. A hazing ritual isn't narrated but mentions that the victim was left with a black eye, sprained wrist, and bruised ribs.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Mention of seeing a couple kiss. Several mentions of how attractive a woman is. Mention of seeing "two dudes crazy in love" and getting used to the idea. Seeing a used condom in a playground is implied.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Bulls---tin'," "s--t," "duck-ass," "a--hole," "nigga," "damn," "douchenozzle," "douchewangle," "crap," "WASP," and graffiti that reads, "F-U-K-C."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

A couple of snack, clothing, and book/movie franchises establish character.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Teens vape marijuana because they've sworn off blunts as carcinogenic. Mention that an 11-year-old was arrested for possession of alcohol. A teen has Jamaican ginger beer, not always alcoholic but mentions he starts to feel relaxed. Quan's father sells marijuana for a living. A neighbor says ganja is good for her glaucoma. A friend had a dime bag of marijuana. A character is mentioned holding a vape pen. Glass pipes and bowls are seen in a convenience store. A hypodermic needle is picked up in a playground. A criminal organization has a no-hard-drugs policy including "lean" (a drink mix that includes codeine), pills, and opioids.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Nic Stone 's Dear Justyce is a sequel to her popular Dear Martin . The story revolves around a couple of incidents of police brutality and excessive force that echo several real-life tragic deaths, so it might trigger powerful emotions in readers who reacted strongly to those. One involves a teen witnessing a hostile confrontation with police that ends in a shooting, and another involves an elementary-school-age boy who sees his father violently arrested and knocked unconscious. The boy himself is painfully dragged and squeezed until he can't breathe. Domestic violence is also a strong theme, with very little actually seen but scary noises and bruises and other injuries imply being beaten. Teens vape marijuana once or twice, a character's dad sells marijuana for a living. An adult gives a teen "Jamaican ginger brew" that's possibly alcoholic. Strong language includes "bulls---tin'," "s--t," "nigga," and "a--hole." Overall messages are positive but cautionary about what kinds of support people in distressed communities need in order to have hope and thrive. The main characters are strong role models and positive representations of African Americans in different circumstances.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

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What's the Story?

DEAR JUSTYCE is the story of Quan, who ever since he was a little kid has tried so hard to keep it together under tough circumstances. He's good at math and loves to read, but the one teacher he has a real connection with goes on maternity leave, and suddenly it's like no one in school even notices him. He tries to protect his younger siblings from his mom's abusive boyfriend. He has a loving and close relationship with his father, but witnesses his father's violent arrest and doesn't see or hear from his father for many years afterward. As he becomes a teen, he starts making some poor choices, but really, what were his alternatives? While spending two years in a juvenile detention facility awaiting trial for murder, he strikes up a correspondence with Justyce, an old friend from the neighborhood who's now a freshman at Yale. Through writing to Justyce, working toward getting a high-school diploma, and getting into therapy for his panic attacks, Quan starts to feel again like he's seen, heard, and valued as a human being, and like he has something to contribute to this world. But with a long jail sentence an almost certainty, how can he hold on to hope?

Is It Any Good?

This moving sequel is a realistic and powerful look at what happens when hope for your future trickles away drop by drop, starting when you're just 9 years old. Like Dear Martin, Quan's story in Dear Justyce has fully believable characters coping with events and circumstances that feel ripped from the headlines. And the story's also told in letters, movie-script dialogue, and straightforward narration. But this time author Nic Stone takes an unblinking look at what can happen to kids who don't have the same kind of support and resources that Justyce had. Thanks to the believable voices of Quan and Justyce, it's always compelling and sometimes frustrating or heartbreaking, sometimes funny, and sometimes even hopeful.

Fans of Justyce will be glad to catch up with him and a few other characters from Dear Martin . And whether readers are new to the franchise or not, there are plenty of new characters to root for and relate to as they ask themselves big, important questions about what people need to grow, thrive, and dream.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how Dear Justyce portrays Quan and Justyce. Are they both role models? What are their character strengths and weaknesses?

Why is it important to see different types of people and different skin colors represented in media? How do you feel when there's a character you can identify with? What can you learn about people who are different from you?

Did you read Dear Martin ? How does this book compare? Which do you like better? If you didn't read it, would you like to now?

Book Details

  • Author : Nic Stone
  • Genre : Contemporary Fiction
  • Topics : Friendship
  • Book type : Fiction
  • Publisher : Crown Books for Young Readers
  • Publication date : September 29, 2020
  • Publisher's recommended age(s) : 14 - 17
  • Number of pages : 288
  • Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
  • Last updated : October 23, 2020

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Exploring Realities and Resilience: ‘Dear Martin’ Book Review

The+book+made+me+reflect+on+whether+these+incidents+were+based+on+true+stories%2C+as+it+was+so+authentic+and+true+to+life.+The+authors+seemed+well-researched+and+skillfully+wove+real-life+experiences+into+the+story.

Book Overview “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone is about a boy named Justice who lives in Atlanta. One night, he visits his ex-best friend who is drunk. During this encounter, a police officer approaches Justice and his ex-girlfriend, who is both white and Black. The officer is suspicious because it’s late at night, and Justice is talking to a white girl. Following the encounter, Justice is instructed to call someone, and he calls his mom and the girl’s parents. Despite his cooperation, the officer insists on handcuffing him, causing shock and confusion.

Evaluation One aspect of the book that I liked was how it depicted the reactions of various cops, especially when people were unjustly arrested or killed. The book demonstrated that not all cops agreed with the actions of their colleagues, and this felt realistic. While it was a tough choice not to arrest some individuals, it portrayed the harsh realities of life, including racism and the persistence of injustice.

Book Impression I genuinely enjoyed the book. It felt very realistic, even when tragic events occurred. The book made me reflect on whether these incidents were based on true stories, as it was so authentic and true to life. The authors seemed well-researched and skillfully wove real-life experiences into the story.

Characters Justice is the main character, and he is determined to fight for justice even when he ends up in challenging situations. Justice is 17 years old, soon to be 18, and aspires to attend college. He is a good student and remained resolute despite the hardships he encountered.

Another character is his best friend, who sadly did not escape arrest, unlike Justice. Justice’s relationship with his best friend was significant, and he tried to prevent many people, including her, from being arrested. They had been close friends since childhood.

Theme and Takeaways The book primarily addresses issues like racial violence and people getting killed. It encourages us to stand up and make a difference. Despite adversity, the story emphasizes resilience. The book illustrates how standing up and protesting against injustice can make a difference, even when the odds are stacked against you.

Target Audience The book is for everyone, but it appears to be primarily targeted at younger audiences. It seeks to inspire the next generation to take action and work against injustice.

Personal Connection I have seen instances of racism over the years, and even though I personally haven’t experienced it, it saddens me to see people subjected to discrimination and name-calling. For instance, as a child, someone once refused to play with me because of my race. It’s a hurtful experience that my mom still remembers. The book’s themes resonated with me because, as someone with a white mom, I’ve grown up in a diverse environment. While our generation has made strides against racism, it’s crucial to embrace diversity and accept everyone for who they are. Reading this book further emphasized the importance of unity and equality to me.

Infinite Jest Deserves Infinite Praise

The Student News Site of Eastern Regional High School

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The Story Sanctuary

Okay, wow. I liked this book so much. I wondered a little bit at the beginning if it would be a lot like THE HATE U GIVE , which I also liked and which had some similar elements. (Kid from a lower income neighborhood going to a private school who has experiences with police brutality, racism and gang violence, even an interracial relationship and how difficult that is for a family member.) And all those elements definitely play a role in this story, but it still felt like a completely different book in the way the story was told.

I loved that Jus writes letters to Dr. King. What a cool way to connect the Civil Rights movement to a present-day story and situation. I also felt like the story captured some of the complexity of a community facing issues like this. While this is Justyce’s story, we also see so many of the other characters respond to what’s happening in striking ways—sometimes because they’re so emotional and other times because they simply aren’t.

Dear Martin on Amazon

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements Justyce and his best friend Manny are black and go to a mostly white school. Justyce’s close friend and debate partner is Jewish. Jus writes letters to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Profanity/Crude Language Content Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently. It was sporadic enough that I’d sometimes forget it was in the story. Often used in anger. Some racial epithets also used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content Jus makes vague mention of experiences with his past girlfriend. His best friend reminds him about an incident in which he caught a girlfriend cheating on him (he references Jus finding her in a compromising position).

Spiritual Content During a funeral, Jus thinks about his friend’s beliefs and how they contrast what the preacher is saying about living on in Heaven. His friend didn’t believe in God.

Violent Content Brief descriptions of violence and racial epithets. A couple scenes show or reference one kid punching another. Usually those moments are choppy and out of focus. Another scene shows a man shooting two kids. News stories and conversations reference other shootings.

Drug Content Jus drinks alcohol twice.

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, dear martin.

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- Click here to read Dylan C.'s review.

Justyce McAllister is at the top of his class at Braselton Prep, a predominantly white school. Although Justyce comes from a rougher neighborhood, he has never had trouble fitting in at Braselton, and even when things get tough, he has his best friend, Manny, by his side.

Nic Stone wastes no time diving into the meat of DEAR MARTIN; in the very first chapter, Justyce is arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and quickly shown the injustices of the law. Justyce is an informed young man and the situation is not unheard of for him, but he is shocked that a straight-A, Yale-bound student like himself could be arrested. After all, he's nothing like the kids he grew up with!

His eyes newly opened to the world around him, Justyce begins to notice the microaggressions occurring around him --- the racist jokes his classmates make and the way they treat people of color. None of them are what one would call openly racist, but it is clear that there is something systemic at work that influences their choices and actions.

"Heartfelt, crisp and informative, Nic Stone's DEAR MARTIN is a truly magnificent and life-changing read."

Struggling to adapt to his new worldview, Justyce begins writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In these letters, he remarks on the similarities between his time period and MLK's, despite the many years that have passed. Poetic and lyrical, these letters are the heart of Stone's story, as they allow Justyce to ask the questions that a young African American male cannot ask out loud, lest he be targeted by others as a protester or rioter.

Although I enjoyed Justyce and his story, the true star of the novel, for me, was Manny, Justyce's best friend. Manny is one of the richest young men in school, but he is also African American, which presents an interesting dichotomy in his personality. He fits in better with his rich classmates than he does with the boys of Justyce's neighborhood, certainly, but he will never truly be "one of them."

Justyce and Manny's differences come to a head when they are out venting their frustrations with some loud music in Manny's car. The two cross paths with an off-duty white cop, shots ring out and one of them ends up dead. Of course, it is not the police officer who is put on trial, but the boys themselves --- were they hoodlums, thugs or teenage boys? Can an African American teen ever really be one or the other in the eyes of the racist media?

Heartfelt, crisp and informative, Nic Stone's DEAR MARTIN is a truly magnificent and life-changing read. With characters that read like real people and situations that ring painfully true, DEAR MARTIN is not only for young African American teens in need of a voice, but for their privileged counterparts, who have much to learn about the world around them. I trust that this book will become a classic in no time and that readers decades from now will read this book and wonder how the world could have turned so dark.

Nic Stone is an astute and careful writer, and I know that we will be seeing much more from her in the years to come.

Review #2 by Dylan C., Teen Board Member:

DEAR MARTIN follows Justyce McAllister, who is at the top of his class at Braselton Prep, and is set to go to Yale next fall. His whole future seems to come to a standing point when a police officer puts him in handcuffs. Even though he’s soon released without any charges, he can’t stop lingering on that very moment. When Justyce goes driving with Manny, his best friend, they come in contact with a off-duty white cop --- where shots are fired, and Justyce is the one who is under attack in the media fallout.

A lot of this book also consists of our main character, Justyce, writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I really did love the parallels between King’s life and Justyce’s life. While everything that happened with King seems like forever ago and like it shouldn’t be happening all of these years in the future, Justyce is writing to him and telling him about all of the similar things that happened in Martin’s time, that are still happening today. But I wasn’t a fan of the format. I’ve never really liked books told in a letter type of format, so I wasn’t able to connect with these portions of the book.

I’m so very disheartened to say that I didn’t love this book. DEAR MARTIN was my most anticipated book of the second half of the year, but unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with it for the life of me. Right from the start, the third person point of view rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it’s because I haven’t read a lot of books in this point of view, but it took me out of the story, which led to me taking almost a week to read a 200 page book, and also it prevented me from connecting with Justyce because I, as a reader, wasn’t in his head.

Another thing about this book that I didn’t like was the dialogue. The dialogue itself wasn’t the problem at all, it was just how it was presented. The dialogue in this book is written in a script format. While this might not bother anyone else, I have never read a book written in this type of format, and so I found myself subconsciously skimming over the dialogue because I honestly just wanted to get it over with.

What I DID like was the story that Nic Stone was trying to tell. Even though this particular story is labeled as fiction, it doesn’t mean that situations like this have never happened in our society today. Stone does a great job of representing the African American community and the trials and tribulations that they go through on a day by day basis.

I realize that to those reading this review, it probably sounds like I hated this book, but I didn’t. It just wasn’t for me. I would still recommend this for fans of THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas, ALL AMERICAN BOYS by Jason Reynolds and THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky.

Reviewed by Audrey Slater and Dylan C., Teen Board Member on October 16, 2017

book review on dear martin

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

  • Publication Date: September 4, 2018
  • Genres: Fiction , Young Adult 13+
  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Ember
  • ISBN-10: 1101939524
  • ISBN-13: 9781101939529

book review on dear martin

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Publisher’s description

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.

Amanda’s thoughts

This book is a powerful and incredibly nuanced look at racism, police brutality, privilege, profiling, and so much more. The thing I kept writing in my notes was “it’s all so very complicated.” And, of course, it IS—you don’t need to know anything about the plot specifics to look at the list of topics it touches on to know it’s complicated. But Justyce’s thoughts, his experiences, the moves he makes/considers/rejects are all so VERY complex. I was completely wrapped up in this story, which I read in one sitting. There is not just one “incident” in this book. Justyce is handcuffed and assaulted by a cop when he’s seen helping his drunk ex-girlfriend into her car in the middle of the night. He’s seen an endless stream of stories in the news about unarmed black kids wrongfully arrested and/or killed, but he never thought it would happen to him. As Justyce says, he’s not “threatening” like some of the kids he’s seen on the news can be/look (his thoughts, not mine). It’s an eye-opening experience, one that prompts him to begin writing letters to Dr. King as he tries to work out his thoughts and works to begin to really see more of what is going on all around him.

There are other incidents that change the way Justyce sees things: his best friend Manny’s cousin, Quan, is charged with murdering a cop. His classmate Jared (and others, but Jared is the worst) spouts off endlessly about how color-blind America is and how everyone here is equal. There are intense classroom conversations about race, police, equality, and privilege that lead Justyce to some new thoughts and to see his peers in different lights. Justyce seeks solutions and ways to handle things like classmates seeing nothing wrong with wearing blackface, dressing up as KKK members for Halloween, and completely being oblivious to their own privilege. Justyce grapples with the trauma of his profiling arrest through all of this—it’s never far from his mind. His best times are with Manny or with Sarah-Jane, who is Jewish and his debate partner (and who he is totally crushing on—but, like everything else, that’s complicated).

The story really ramps up when, partway through, Manny and Justyce encounter an angry, racist, off-duty cop while blaring their music at a stoplight. What happens here, and after, is heartbreaking, profoundly moving, and often incredibly infuriating. This stunning debut is captivating, raw, and immensely readable. I would love to see this used in classrooms or book clubs and hear the conversations it would generate. This important and thoughtful look at racism, and many issues stemming from and surrounding racism, should be in all teen collections.  A must-read. I can’t wait to see what else Nic Stone writes. 

ISBN-13: 9781101939499 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books Publication date: 10/17/2017

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book review on dear martin

Dear Martin

Everything you need for every book you read..

Seventeen-year-old Justyce McAllister walks through a wealthy neighborhood outside Atlanta, Georgia one night. He’s wearing a hooded sweatshirt and is on his way to find Melo , his ex-girlfriend. He knows Melo is drunk and wants to make sure she won’t drive, but she tells him to go away when he finds her. Still, he takes her keys and maneuvers her into the backseat. Just then, a police car drives up and a white officer named Tommy Castillo jumps out and grabs Justyce, handcuffing him and slamming his head against the car. Justyce tries to explain that he was only helping Melo, but Castillo punches him in the face and tells him not to “say shit,” calling him a “punk ass” who “couldn’t resist the pretty white girl who’d locked her keys in her car.”

Transitioning from the scene of Justyce’s arrest, Nic Stone gives readers a glimpse of Justyce’s diary, in which he writes a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , explaining that he admires the way Dr. King lived his life. Justyce introduces himself to Dr. King, saying that he’s a scholarship student at Braselton Preparatory Academy, is ranked fourth in his class, is captain of the debate team, has high test scores, and believes he has a bright future “despite growing up in a ‘bad’ area.” Unfortunately, though, “none of that mattered” the night before, when Officer Castillo arrested him. Justyce was eventually let go, but he now feels unsettled, since he never thought he’d find himself in “this kind of situation.” In his diary, he writes about a young black boy named Shemar Carson , who was shot by a white police officer in Nevada even though he was unarmed.

Justyce returns to school the next week. A grand jury has recently failed to indict the officer who killed Shemar Carson, and Justyce can’t stop thinking about how his own run-in with the police could have easily been fatal, like Shemar’s. What’s more, Justyce learns that his best friend Manny ’s cousin, Quan Banks , shot and killed Officer Castillo the other night and is now awaiting trial in juvenile detention.

In his Societal Evolution class, Justyce’s favorite teacher, Doc , asks the class if they think the United States has achieved racial equality. The only black people in the room are Doc, Justyce, Manny, who’s also close friends with an overly-confident white boy named Jared . Answering Doc’s question, Jared says that the United States has reached racial equality, claiming that people who complain about racism are “just being divisive.” Sarah-Jane (or SJ, a white girl who is Justyce’s partner on the debate team) takes issue with this statement, trying to show Jared that he only thinks racism is a thing of the past because he himself has never experienced it. Jared refutes this point, but SJ presses on, saying that ignoring inequality won’t make it go away.

After class, Justyce overhears Jared talking with Manny and their friends Blake , Tyler , and Kyle (who are white). Jared expresses his anger that Doc would even suggest the continued existence of racial inequality. He then waxes poetic about how he and his friends live in a “color-blind society,” and though Manny is hesitant to agree, the four white boys convince him to chant, “Equality!” with them. Hearing this enrages Justyce, who resents Manny for going along with Jared’s casual racism.

Jared later suggests that he and his friends should dress up as various stereotypes for Halloween. Although Justyce is skeptical, he decides to go along with the idea, agreeing to dress like a “thug” while Manny goes as the “token black guy.” Jared himself dresses as a “Yuppie/Politician.” What really bothers Justyce, though, is that Blake wears a seemingly authentic Ku Klux Klan outfit. Not wanting the others to call him overly “sensitive,” Justyce doesn’t say anything, so the group makes its way to a party. However, they encounter trouble when they run into a group of guys from Justyce’s neighborhood. These young men belong to a gang called the Black Jihad, and they take offense at Blake’s racist costume, immediately punching him in the face. A gang member named Trey then recognizes Justyce and disparages him for leaving the neighborhood to associate with people like Blake.

In the aftermath of the Halloween party, Justyce talks to SJ on the phone. They’ve always been close friends, but recently he has begun to develop stronger feelings for her, though he doesn’t know what to do with these feelings because he and Melo have an on-again-off-again relationship. Plus, he knows his mother would never approve of him dating a white girl. Still, he takes comfort in talking to her, especially because she seems to be one of the few people willing to recognize the subtle but significant racism swirling around him at Braselton Prep. When he learns several days after Halloween that he’s been accepted to Yale during the “early action” period, she’s the first person he calls.

The day after Justyce gets into Yale, Jared is clearly angry in Societal Evolution. Raising his hand, he asks Doc if they can talk about affirmative action, setting forth the argument that such practices “discriminate against members of the majority.” He then goes on to say that Justyce only got into Yale because he’s black, pointing out that he himself was deferred during “early action” even though he has better test scores. When Justyce asks how he knows he has better scores, it becomes clear that Jared has simply assumed this, so the two boys compare results and discover that they received more or less the same marks. Frustrated, Jared suggests that Justyce only got into Yale because Yale has to fill a “quota” of black students.

In the coming weeks, Justyce focuses on the upcoming debate tournament, spending the majority of his time with SJ. When Manny tries to convince him to date SJ, he refuses, insisting that his mother wouldn’t approve. However, he can’t conceal his feelings any longer when he and SJ triumphantly win the tournament. Backstage, he leans in to kiss her, but she backs away and leaves, avoiding him for the rest of the day and for the following weeks. During this time, yet another unarmed black teenager is shot and killed by a white police officer. Justyce is quite upset—so upset that he drinks heavily on the way to a party at Blake’s house that night. Manny tries to get him to pace himself, but he doesn’t listen. When they arrive at the party, Justyce notices that Blake’s family has minstrel decorations and other racist paraphernalia. Worse, Blake approaches Manny and Justyce and makes racist comments and slurs. When Justyce challenges him on this, he acts like it isn’t a big deal. At this point, Jared enters the conversation and jokingly warns Blake to watch out because Justyce is “from the hood.” Hearing this, Justyce hits him and starts a fight, dragging Manny into the skirmish. When Manny criticizes him for starting a fight, the two boys have an argument, and Justyce yells at him for always letting his white friends off the hook.

Several days later, both Manny and Jared are mysteriously absent from school. When Justyce returns to his dorm room, he finds Manny, and the two boys make up. Manny then tells him that he went to quit the basketball team the other day because he has never really liked basketball. The only reason he was on the team, he says, is because he thought everyone expected him to play, since he’s “the tall black kid at school.” When he went to the coach’s office, Jared was there, and he made a joke about how Manny couldn’t quit until “ Massah set [him] free.” Losing his rage, Manny punched him.

The next weekend, Manny picks Justyce up from school to go hiking. However, Manny is in a bad mood because he’s just learned that Jared’s family is pressing charges against him for hitting Jared. Consequently, he doesn’t want to go hiking, so the two friends simply ride around in Manny’s Range Rover listening to hip-hop. At a traffic light, Justyce sees an angry white man glaring at them from an adjacent car. Nervous, Justyce turns down the music, but Manny turns it back up when the light changes. At the next stop, the man drives beside them and tells them to turn down the music. Instead, Manny turns it up, at which point the man calls them the n-word. “Hey, fuck you, man!” Manny shouts, and then the man pulls out a gun and fires shots into the cabin, killing Manny and injuring Justyce. It later emerges that the shooter’s name is Garrett Tison , an off-duty police officer.

After Manny’s funeral, his parents invite Justyce to the house and tell him that their nephew, Quan (who killed Officer Castillo), wants to see him. Quan grew up in the same neighborhood as Justyce, so Justyce agrees to see him. When he visits, Quan tells him that Garrett Tison was Officer Castillo’s partner. He also tells Justyce to join the Black Jihad because the leader, Martel , will give him guidance. “You need to get you a crew to roll with,” he says, giving Justyce Martel’s number.

In the coming days, Justyce tries to put the idea of calling Martel out of his mind. However, SJ is still ignoring him, and he has nobody to turn to, so he takes the bus to Martel’s house, where he meets with members of the Black Jihad before listening to Martel talk about the plight of black people in the United States. Everything Martel says makes sense, but then Justyce sees a sawed-off shotgun and remembers that joining the Black Jihad would mean entering a life of violence. At this moment, other members of the gang rush in and show Justyce a video clip of Blake talking about him on the news. Apparently, Blake has come forward to tell the nation that Justyce attacked him at his party, ultimately throwing his moral character into question and stoking the debate that is already raging across all media platforms about whether or not Justyce and Manny did something to provoke Officer Tison. Mortified, Justyce quickly leaves Martel’s house and goes straight to SJ’s home. Once they’re alone in her room, he tells her that he almost joined a gang, and she lets him weep on her shoulder. Finally, he tells her he has romantic feelings for her, and she confirms that she feels the same way. It’s the first time he’s felt happy or hopeful in a long time.

Meanwhile, the media continues to make absurd speculations about Justyce and Manny, calling them “thugs.” Around this time, members of the Black Jihad burn down Garrett Tison’s house, and several of them implicate Justyce as an accomplice, though investigators luckily don’t believe them. Shortly thereafter, Justyce has to testify against Tison in court. Tison’s attorney destabilizes him by bringing up the fact that he got drunk and hit Jared and Blake at Blake’s party. She also mentions that Justyce met with the Black Jihad, ending her questioning abruptly in a moment that makes Justyce look very bad. As a result, Tison is only found guilty of three of the four charges against him, leaving out the most serious: a felony murder charge. Several days after the trial, though, a group of prisoners murders Tison in jail.

Later that month, Justyce goes to Yale and is disappointed to be paired with a pretentious and subtly racist roommate. He and SJ are still dating, though SJ goes to Columbia. Jared is also at Yale, but Justyce never sees him. When he comes home for Christmas, though, he encounters Jared at Manny’s grave, and the two boys reconcile their differences. Jared expresses how badly he misses Manny, and he tells Justyce that he’s decided to become a civil rights lawyer. This pleases and impresses Justyce, who turns to his former foe and suggests that they hang out back at Yale.

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book review on dear martin

Dear Martin Book Review

Dear Martin by Nic Stone is a fantastic novel to add to any high school classroom library. Read more about this novel in this book review from 2 Peas and a Dog. #bookreview #highschoolbooks #englishlanguagearts

Dear Martin by Nic Stone is a fantastic novel to add to any high school classroom library.

This blog post contains affiliate links which are of no cost to the reader. If you make a purchase through the provided links this blog will receive a small commission to help with the financial costs of maintaining the site.

book review on dear martin

Summary: Justyce McAllister does not realize the societal injustices that occur daily until he is put into handcuffs for trying to help his girlfriend. After this moment, he can no longer ignore the way society treats people differently. He starts writing to Martin Luther King Jr. as a way of coping and processing the things he finds difficult. When his best friend is shot he begins to wonder which way is better gang life or using the ways of Martin Luther King Jr.

Review: If you students enjoy The Hate You Give , then they will LOVE Dear Martin by Nic Stone. I personally found this novel easier to read and it kept my attention more than The Hate You Give . It would be excellent as a class novel or a book club selection. Due to the swearing and mature language in this novel, I would recommend it for high school classrooms.

book review on dear martin

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book review on dear martin

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Book Reviews

Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Dear Martin is one of those books I can’t believe I didn’t pick up sooner. I heard all the hype and somehow it just slipped deeper into my TBR, but as I was scrolling Scribd I found it and listened and I am so remorseful I didn’t read this sooner.

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.

book review on dear martin

Dear Martin is powerful, gripping, and heart wrenching. Reeling from the loss of his best friend, Justyce is thrown headfirst into a journey where he must question his identity, how he handles the racism, and how he will move on from his best friend’s death. It’s a book that starts before the death of his best friend as Justyce writes letters to Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dear Martin is gripping and incredibly necessary. It’s a shorter book than you might be expecting, but it brings up issues of dealing with the racism of our peers, within our family, and not letting it change who we are.

So many conversations from Dear Martin could have been ripped out of my past. While I’m not Black, I have heard so many conversations about affirmative action, color blindness, and stereotypes. I’m not at all equating our experiences, it was just a way I related and thought, “Yes, I’ve also had these conversations”.

It’s about racism, racial profiling, police brutality, and more. I feel like Dear Martin should be required reading because of the fantastic and insightful ways Stone brings up these issues, as well as the counter arguments.

I could not stop listening to Dear Martin, even when my heart ached for Justyce and that feeling of not fitting in anywhere and the immense rage of injustice. 

Find Dear Martin on Goodreads , Amazon , Indiebound   & The Book Depository .

What are books you heard a lot of hype about but haven’t picked up yet? I haven’t read any Holly Black either…

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How nicole addimando survived horrific abuse – and her sister helped her survive prison.

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The story of abuse-victim Nicole Addimando and her two children is recounted in the new book "Dear Sister."

This past Jan. 4, Nicole Addimando, a 31-year-old mother of two better known as “Nikki,” was released from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Westchester County, NY.

She had served seven-and-a-half years of a 19-years-to-life sentence on charges of second-degree murder in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Chris Grover, the father of her two children.

A popular gym instructor on the outside, behind closed doors Grover was a monster with a fetish for spousal violence and sadistic torture.

Addimando during a pretrial hearing for her murder case in 2018.

Addimando won her freedom as a result of New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.

Passed in 2019, it authorizes sentence reductions when abuse was a significant contribution to the crime.

In this case, the abuse was so significant that Nikki fatally shot Chris on the night of September 28, 2017, in their modest Poughkeepsie, NY apartment.

During the course of their seven-year turbulent union, she had suffered “unthinkable violence behind closed doors,” according to Nikki’s older sister, Michelle Horton, in her disturbing new book, “Dear Sister: A Memoir of Secrets, Survival and Unbreakable Bonds” (Grand Central Publishing).

Over the years, Horton writes, she had seen evidence of Nikki’s abuse, including increased visible bruising across her body.

But Nikki would cover them up, blaming the markings on routine accidents.

Horton fell for the excuses.

But it was only after Nikki pulled the trigger that she truly learned the extent of her sister’s misery. 

At one point after Grover’s death, an angry Nikki confronted Horton, saying that various people had helped her survive her living hell, and asked, “But where were you?”

Abuser Chris Grover.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see it,” Horton sadly and starkly writes. “I felt embarrassment flood to my face.”

The abuse Nikki, the mother of Ben and daughter, Faye, suffered at the hands of their father seems unimaginable.

But Nikki had been abused sexually long before Chris entered the picture, her sister reveals; first at the age of five, and again at the beginning of her relationship with Chris by a maintenance man in her mother’s building.

In her book, Horton discloses that Chris repeatedly burned Nikki’s vagina and genital area with a spoon he heated over the flame of their gas stove when she was pregnant with Faye. 

Supporters of Nicole Addimando gathered outside of the Dutchess County Courthouse prior to Addimando's sentencing on February 11, 2020.

Along with the sexual torture, there were multiple bruises, black eyes, bite marks, as well as strangulation marks around her sister’s neck.

Chris had assaulted Nikki sexually with a gun, and strangled her with his bathrobe belt until she almost passed out, according to a report in the New Yorker .

Moreover, Chris had become obsessed with porn, so much so that sadistic videos he shot of Nikki were discovered on an online porn, his wife “tied up with zip ties, blindfolded and raped.”

Chris had even constructed homemade sex toys, including one used on Nikki as a mouth gag.

Author Michelle Horton.

According to Horton, a New Hyde Park detective who had been contacted by an advocate from Family Services had wanted to make a case against Chris.

But Nikki was too frightened to sign an affidavit confirming the abuse, fearing that Chris would take away their son, Ben.

The day before Nikki killed Chris, Child Protective Services had visited the couple following up on yet another report of Chris’s abuse, Horton writes. 

The visit had inspired Nikki to finally tell Chris that she was going to “take a break” from him with the children.

“Just let us leave and I won’t tell anyone,” Nikki pleaded with Chris.

But he would have none of it, Horton writes. 

He loaded his handgun while Nikki watched in horror and listened virtually frozen as he showed her pictures on his cellphone of how he would shoot her in her sleep to make her death look like a suicide.

book review on dear martin

Chris pointed the gun at her, but Nikki kneed him in the groin and the weapon fell to the floor where she retrieved it.

All the while, Chris was demanding she give the gun back to him, while telling her he would kill her and the children.

At that moment, the distraught Nikki lunged at Chris, pointed the barrel against his head and fired. 

“I don’t know what else I could have done,” Nikki later confessed to her sister. 

At her trial, says Horton, Nikki was “slut-shamed” by a prosecutor who shockingly believed she was a willing participant in the torture and faked her injuries.

Addimando betrays signs of the abuse.

Horton blames the trial judge and the judicial system — that she asserts, “criminalizes survivors” — of her sister’s initial sentence.

Horton would be Nikki’s champion every day of her incarceration, including caring for her children, and would launch a fight to bring Nikki home, “squaring off against a criminal justice system seemingly designed to punish the entire family.”

Through the Nicole Addimando Community Defense Committee, Horton continues to speak out for her sister — now peacefully at home raising her children — along with other victims of domestic violence.

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Addimando during a pretrial hearing for her murder case in 2018.

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Those $399 Gold Trump Sneakers Are About a Lot More Than Shoes

What is Trump really selling when he is selling footwear?

Former President Donald J. Trump stands onstage at a microphone. Before him on the podium is a gold hightop sneaker with an American flag at the ankle.

By Vanessa Friedman

Of all the merch hawked by the former president and current presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and related entities over the past few months — the gold (chocolate) bars, the wines , the superhero NFTs — is any of it more Trumpian than the $399 Never Surrender sneakers unveiled over the weekend at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia ? They are like a road map to Mr. Trump’s value system and electoral strategy in sartorial form.

Gilded hightops as shiny as the chandeliers at Mar-a-Lago, they have an American flag wrapping the ankle like the forest of flags that spring up behind Mr. Trump whenever he takes a stage. They have red soles made to match his trademark red ties (and the flag) and perhaps as a sly nod to Christian Louboutins and the semiology of luxury footwear. Also, there’s a large embossed “T” on the side and on the tongue.

While they are “bold, gold and tough, just like President Trump,” according to the Trump sneakers website, allowing potential owners to “be a part of history,” they boast zero technical performance attributes. While they have a shape similar to Nike Air Force 1s (get it? Air Force One!), they are unabashed imitations of the original.

It’s tempting to dismiss the offering as all flash and marketing with little substance. That’s what Michael Tyler , a spokesman for the Biden campaign, did, saying, “Donald Trump showing up to hawk bootleg Off-Whites is the closest he’ll get to any Air Force Ones ever again for the rest of his life.”

Or to think of them as Mr. Trump’s answer to the Biden campaign’s TikTok presence : an effort to associate himself with the cool embedded in the whole idea of sneaker culture, not to mention the energy and athleticism implied by the “Just Do It” model. Despite the fact that Mr. Trump himself is almost never seen wearing a sneaker, or doing much exercise.

Yet the merching of the moment is more dangerous than it may initially appear.

There has been a lot of eye-rolling since the sneakers’ debut, and jokes about the fact that, given the millions of dollars in penalties levied on Mr. Trump in his various civil cases, he has to make more money somewhere. And there was a lot of focus on the boos that met his appearance at Sneaker Con. (To be fair, the sneakerhead community is not the market for the kicks since there’s nothing original about them; it’s the MAGA market.)

It’s easy to get distracted by the sheer absurdity of it all — a former president, selling sneakers!

There are so many ways Mr. Trump has challenged the norms of the presidential system that such merch can seem the least of the matter. What is selling NFTs with pieces of a mug shot suit compared with the indictment that necessitated the mug shot? What is offering $99 Victory47 cologne in a gold bottle with a gold Trump head as a stopper (another product available on the sneaker website) compared with offering to throw NATO allies to Russia like little pieces of red meat? Besides, realistically, there’s no way the sneakers will provide much of a financial boost to Trump World.

The sneakers are being created by a company known as 45Footwear LLC and are not officially “designed, manufactured, distributed or sold by Donald J. Trump, the Trump Organization or any of their respective affiliates or principals,” according to a disclaimer on the sneaker website. That company licenses the Trump name and image from one called CIC Ventures LLC , which happens to have the same address as the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Trump sneaker website looks a lot like the Trump NFT website, and as with that arrangement, Mr. Trump most likely receives a licensing fee. He did present the sneakers at Sneaker Con himself.

Despite the fact that, as of Sunday, the website claimed that the 1,000 pairs of numbered Never Surrender sneakers had sold out, leaving the somewhat less exciting T-Red cherry knit sneaks and Potus 45 white knit sneaks available at $199 each, it’s hard to imagine a circumstance in which the shoes provide any meaningful source of income.

What they offer is something else.

Like Mr. Trump’s tendency to turn every courtroom appearance into a form of entertainment that can be used as a campaign op, his effort to commoditize his legal jeopardy is a long-term strategic play. In reducing his indictments to a slogan on a consumer good, he is reducing their gravity.

It’s a form of insidious trivialization, the sort of tactic that plays perfectly in the landscape of late-stage capitalism in which everything is a product for sale. Oh, those old federal charges? They’re not serious; they’re a style choice. He’s transforming indictments into accessories, a language everyone speaks. The more product he sells, the more he makes a mockery of his situation. That’s where the real profit lies.

Vanessa Friedman has been the fashion director and chief fashion critic for The Times since 2014. More about Vanessa Friedman

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  6. Dear Martin By Nic Stone: Book Review

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  1. Dear Martin Chapter 18 Audio

COMMENTS

  1. Dear Martin Book Review

    Parents Say: age 13+ 5 reviews Any Iffy Content? Read more Talk with Your Kids About… Read more A Lot or a Little? What you will—and won't—find in this book. Educational Value Dear Martin offers an education in empathy and the Positive Messages Despite the seriously unfair and racist incidents Positive Role Models

  2. DEAR MARTIN

    TEENS & YOUNG ADULT DEAR MARTIN by Nic Stone ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 2017 Though constrained, the work nevertheless stands apart in a literature that too often finds it hard to look hard truths in... bookshelf shop now

  3. Dear Martin (Dear Martin, #1) by Nic Stone

    78,426 ratings11,641 reviews Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut. 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.

  4. 'Dear Martin' will make most readers uncomfortable

    'Dear Martin' will make most readers uncomfortable — and it should by Erica Hensley August 13, 2018 Nic Stone wants young people of color to see themselves on the page. Growing up, she did not see writers who looked like her, and now wants young readers and writers to know that their stories matter.

  5. Book review: "Dear Martin" is powerful and enthralling

    Book review: "Dear Martin" is powerful and enthralling Nic Stone's enthralling debut novel, "Dear Martin," gives a powerful and honest look at racism in America. Edward Keen, Arts Editor | September 18, 2018 The original cover for "Dear Martin."

  6. 'Dear Martin' book review: Nic Stone delivers an ...

    Nic Stone's debut novel Dear Martin is an honest and deeply affecting story of loss, resilience, and race. About 'Dear Martin' by Nic Stone Justyce Mcallister is top of his class, captain...

  7. Dear Martin Series by Nic Stone

    4.40 · 17,241 Ratings · 2,422 Reviews · published 2020 · 21 editions In the stunning and hard-hitting sequel to the New… More Want to Read Rate it: Dear Martin (Dear Martin, #1) and Dear Justyce (Dear Martin, #2)

  8. Dear Martin

    Dear Martin, published in 2017 by Crown Publishing Group, is a young adult novel by Nic Stone. It is Stone's debut novel, written as a reaction to the murder of Jordan Davis. [1] The book appeared as #4 on The New York Times Best Seller list. [2] Development and publication [ edit]

  9. Book Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

    Book Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone November 7, 2017 by Amanda MacGregor Leave a Comment Publisher's description Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.

  10. 4 Young Adult Crossover Novels

    4 Young Adult Crossover Novels. 288 pp. Crown. $18.99. In Stone's 2017 book "Dear Martin," Justyce McAllister, a Black student attending a fancy boarding school, writes letters to Martin ...

  11. Dear Justyce (Dear Martin, #2) by Nic Stone

    17,258 ratings2,426 reviews. In the stunning and hard-hitting sequel to the New York Times bestseller Dear Martin, incarcerated teen Quan writes letters to Justyce about his experiences in the American prison system. Shortly after teenager Quan enters a not guilty plea for the shooting death of a police officer, he is placed in a holding cell ...

  12. Dear Martin

    ISBN: 9781101939529 Review Source: Zetta Elliott Buy at Powell's Books Publisher's Synopsis: "Raw and gripping." -JASON REYNOLDS, New York Times bestselling coauthor of All American Boys "A must-read!" -ANGIE THOMAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate You Give

  13. Dear Justyce: Dear Martin, Book 2 Book Review

    Parents Need to Know. Parents need to know that Nic Stone's Dear Justyce is a sequel to her popular Dear Martin.The story revolves around a couple of incidents of police brutality and excessive force that echo several real-life tragic deaths, so it might trigger powerful emotions in readers who reacted strongly to those…

  14. Dear Martin: Study Guide

    Overview Dear Martin, a young adult novel by Nic Stone, was published in 2017. The book follows the story of Justyce McAllister, a Black teenager who begins writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after a traumatic experience with police brutality.

  15. Exploring Realities and Resilience: 'Dear Martin' Book Review

    Book Overview "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone is about a boy named Justice who lives in Atlanta. One night, he visits his ex-best friend who is drunk. During this encounter, a police officer approaches Justice and his ex-girlfriend, who is both white and Black. The officer is suspicious because it's late at night, and Justice...

  16. Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

    Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack. My Review Okay, wow. I liked this book so much. I wondered a little bit at the beginning if it would be a lot like THE HATE U GIVE, which I also liked and which had some similar elements.

  17. Dear Martin

    by Nic Stone. Publication Date: September 4, 2018. Genres: Fiction, Young Adult 13+. Paperback: 240 pages. Publisher: Ember. ISBN-10: 1101939524. 9781101939529. Review. 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.

  18. Book Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

    Book Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone. Publisher's description Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut. Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the ...

  19. Dear Martin by Nic Stone Plot Summary

    Chapter 1 Seventeen-year-old Justyce McAllister walks through a wealthy neighborhood outside Atlanta, Georgia one night. He's wearing a hooded sweatshirt and is on his way to find Melo, his ex-girlfriend. He knows Melo is drunk and wants to make sure she won't drive, but she tells him to go away when he finds her.

  20. Dear Martin Book Review

    Review: If you students enjoy The Hate You Give, then they will LOVE Dear Martin by Nic Stone. I personally found this novel easier to read and it kept my attention more than The Hate You Give. It would be excellent as a class novel or a book club selection. Due to the swearing and mature language in this novel, I would recommend it for high ...

  21. Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

    Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack. Review Dear Martin is powerful, gripping, and heart wrenching.

  22. Amazon.com: Dear Martin: 9781101939499: Stone, Nic: Books

    Dear Martin. Hardcover - October 17, 2017. After a traffic stop turns violent at the hands of the police, a young Black teen grapples with racism—and what it means for his future. Critically acclaimed author Nic Stone boldly tackles America's troubled history with race relations in her gripping debut novel.

  23. A story of two sisters and unspeakable abuse

    The story of abuse-victim Nicole Addimando and her two children is recounted in the new book "Dear Sister." westandwithnikki/Instagram This past Jan. 4, Nicole Addimando, a 31-year-old mother of ...

  24. Book Review: 'Dear Sister,' by Michelle Horton, and 'My Side of the

    The book is most successful as a behind-the-scenes look at how a society, a legal system and a family failed a woman who had been sexually abused by a series of men, starting when she was 5 years old.

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  27. A'ja Wilson on inspiring the next generation with 'Dear Black Girls

    In this conversation recorded for Washington Post Live on Feb. 15, two-time WNBA champion A'ja Wilson discusses her new book, "Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You," as well as how her ...

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    Or to think of them as Mr. Trump's answer to the Biden campaign's TikTok presence: an effort to associate himself with the cool embedded in the whole idea of sneaker culture, not to mention ...