Dear Martin

Nic Stone

“‘Manny, chill.’ Why is this damn light so long? “Let’s just turn it down till we get away from this guy, all right?” Justyce learns forward to reach for the volume knob. “OH SHIT!” Manny shouts—-“

Right when I was about to give up on this book, it sucked me in.

I found Dear Martin next to The Hate You Give. Because of its placement, I bought it. Dear Martin is a small book that feels nice in your hands.

Dear Martin is about racism, prejudice, and the ugliness people of color face. It is a short read that manages to pull the reader into story that reads like news clippings.

Justyce McAllister is a senior in high school, he is a good student and son. Justyce is not like his classmates. He comes from a rough neighborhood, even though he seems to have left that life behind he still faces ridicule. To cope with school, friends, family, and life as a whole Justyce writes letters to MLK Jr. He strives to be like Martin and makes choices in that Martin might make in our modern world. You’ll find messages to Martin throughout the book.

Outside of school drama, Justyce is a good guy. He has one goal: get into Yale. Between school activities, friends, girls, and his home life you are hoping he gets in.

One night he runs to the recuse of his ex-girlfriend. Doing what any good friend would do, he tries to prevent her from driving drunk. A police officer watches from afar and a misunderstanding brews that ends with Justyce in handcuffs. This haunts Justyce, he feels the phantom handcuffs throughout the book.

I am not going to lie, while I thought the first part of the book was interesting there wasn’t enough going on to keep me reading…that is until it happens. 

“‘Manny, chill.’ Why is this damn light so long? “Let’s just turn it down till we get away from this guy, all right?” Justyce learns forward to reach for the volume knob. “OH SHIT!” Manny shouts—-“

I can’t even hint at what happens, I can’t spoil it! I highly recommend Dear Martin. Keep in mind I was ready not finish until I turned the next page, so you might not like it. The ending felt rushed and at times the author switched from using quotations to frame dialogue to listing the conversations with the characters name and a colon. I didn’t like this, but to each their own. Dear Martin is a good read, but I couldn’t stop myself from comparing it to The Hate You Give.

If you want a modern read, controversial topics, like stories about race, people of color, high school, male main characters–this read if for you. If not, do not read this book.

Have you read Dear Martin? Have you read anything similar? Do you plan to read Dear Martin? Tell me below!