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. 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 book that’s been on my TBR since it came out at the end of last year. I loved The Hate U Give and I was kind of indifferent to All American Boys, so I was excited to see another author’s take on this topic. I think that this is an important story to tell, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of its execution.
To start off, I found the writing a little odd. There are some parts that are told pretty traditionally. Other parts are written as letters to Martin Luther King Jr., which makes sense, given the topic of the book. But then there are some parts that are written like a script, which felt so weird and out of place. I don’t understand why this book had to be written in three different styles.
There were some parts of this book that I really liked. I think that the author handled racism really well, not just the overt racism of the shooting, but also the smaller acts that affected Justyce’s everyday life. There’s talk of affirmative action, interracial dating, and insensitive classmates. That said, I wish there would have been more to this book.
The conversations with MLK via letter are good, but I felt like the book got a little too focused on Justyce’s love life rather than the actual, you know, shooting and racial injustice. It’s a good, relevant, important book, but it wasn’t one of my favorites.
Have you read Dear Martin? Is it on your TBR?
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On my TBR.
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I hope you end up liking it! 🙂
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I had this one on my TBR but just unhauled it in my December huge unhaul of doom ≧ω≦
I was just never picking it up, I had this feeling it was going to be a bit meh and your review seems to confirm that. I didn’t know about the script parts but that sounds like something I wouldn’t enjoy so I don’t regret my choice!
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That was probably a good decision! (At least in my opinion.) A lot of people have loved it, but I was just so underwhelmed.
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It’s on my TBR. I ordered it over Black Friday weekend (package arrived a few weeks later) and have been waiting for the right moment to start reading. I don’t think I’ll skip it, but your review definitely makes me wary. It’s a short book, so I know it won’t take up a huge amount of my time. If it was longer, I might put off reading it.
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I hope you like it more than I did! It’s not a bad book, but it definitely wasn’t what I expected.
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Thanks! I remain hopeful.
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I enjoyed it but there’s definitely pros and cons. Her next book, the Odd One Out is much better. Her writing improved a lot and the story had more substance.
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That’s great to hear! I’ll have to check it out sometime. 🙂
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