Dear Martin (Dear Martin, #1)

by Nic Stone

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME
 
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.
 
"Raw and gripping." –JASON REYNOLDS, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You
 
Justyce 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 without cause.
 
When faced with injustice, 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 and a friend spark the fury of an off-duty cop. Words fly, shots are fired, and the boys get caught in the crosshairs. But in the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack.
 
"A must-read!” –ANGIE THOMAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give

"Powerful, wrenching.” –JOHN GREEN, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down

• ISBN10: 1101939494
• ISBN13: 9781101939499
• Publish Date: 17 October 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crown Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781101939499

Reviews

[nannah]

(2.5)

Okay, don’t get me wrong. This book and the topics it covers are very important (antiblackness, police brutality, the different responses to black boys being killed by cops, among others), but the writing is not strong. That's obviously not a very popular opinion, though, and I’ll never be upset that something like this has gotten so popular.

Content warnings:
- racism
- antiblackness
- police brutality
- domestic abuse mention (very brief)
- sexism and misogyny

Representation:
- the main protagonist is Black
- two secondary protagonists and a love interest are also Black
- another love interest is Jewish

(the Goodreads summary is awful … it spoils the book!)

Justyce McAllister grew up in a rough neighborhood and is well acquainted with antiblackness and police brutality, but as a student in a fancy prep school destined for the Ivy League, he never thought something like what he hears about in the news could happen to him. He’s not one of those Black boys. But when he tries to help his drunk, light-skinned ex home after a party, a cop assumes he’s assaulting a white woman and puts him in handcuffs for three hours. After the incident, Justyce’s life and worldview are no longer the same. He starts seeing antiblackness everywhere and begins to write to Martin Luther King Jr. in an experiment to discover if MLK’s teachings still have relevance in the modern day.

What I particularly like is the story showing (through news clippings and articles) the way black victims of police brutality are demonized in the media. It feels very authentic, and a lot like what has really happened in real life. There are consequences for every action, even if the consequence doesn’t feel justified.

But while I think the topics of this book are incredibly important--and I very much like the idea of the protagonist writing letters to MLK as a way to find his own self and as a way to cope with racism he’s experiencing--I think the execution doesn’t at all do the concepts justice. I'm not sure Justyce's writing to MLK as an "experiment", especially to see if MLK's teachings of nonviolence have relevance, really come through.

Most of all the reason for my rating is the writing itself. In many places, the prose dissolves into a script format, sometimes only for one or two lines of dialogue before reverting back into prose. There are even actions marked in parentheses. The result is something that seems like the author jotting down ideas to come back and edit later.

“Ain’t no amount of money nor intelligence can change that shit.”
Jared: Hey, man, that’s not true. You don’t ev--
“Shut UP, Jared!” (This from Surfer-Tyler.) “Let’s just leave, bro.”
Trey: Sounds like a great idea to me.

But since this story is largely about important conversations about race, I can in a way see how this kind of format could be highlighting that theme, especially in classroom scenes where the novel abandons prose altogether and adopts the script format. With the exception of the actions in parentheses (which feel really strange, and more like a teen writing something than writing for teens), it works okay there. But otherwise, without beats, or anything to signify tone other than caps and italics, things start to sound over dramatic and confusing.

Speaking of caps and italics, the author seems to want to add every YA-style formatting gimmick there is. There’s lots of all-cap text alongside italics, sections of different fonts (even though that’s appropriate), different formatting, lots of onomatopoeias, etc. All of that together creates writing that feels juvenile, even if the topics and the scenes absolutely are anything but.

I also wish the book had left out the sexism and misogyny, especially from Justyce’s PoV. If this is what authors need to include to have it “connect” or sound like real teenage boys, we uhh, have a problem.

But all that said, I particularly liked the letters Justyce wrote to MLK Jr. Those letters came off to me as the most genuine parts of the book. And there were scenes that moved me, and one I teared up at. It’s not a terrible book, I just didn’t like or connect with the writing style. I wish the series and the author all the best, though!

[writehollydavis]

This story drew me in and wouldn't let go! Such a powerful and important message told in a seamless way. I love that Justyce was writing to Dr. Martin which made the format refreshing and different. I was on the edge of my seat reading until the end!

[roundtableknight]

“You ever consider that maybe you not supposed to 'fit'? People who make history rarely do.”
~
Rating: 4.5/5 stars (read June 16th 2020)
~
Have you ever read a story that takes pieces of what you hear on a daily basis, and expounds on them by showing the other part of the story? Because that is exactly what this book does, and it's brilliant. Through this whole novel we see the events of racial injustice through Justyce's point of view, and how the media takes his life and history and spins it so out of context that you can't even rationalize it to the person it is supposed to be talking about. It was heartbreaking, angering, and breathtaking to watch as these events unfold, and how Justyce deals with everything.

I would highly encourage everyone to read this, especially to non-POC like me who have privilege and will never fully understand the daily discrimination against black people and other minorities.

[Jane]

YA fiction was not something I previously enjoyed, but I found myself enjoying this book and landed on a kick, because I enjoyed the book I read after (Monday's Not Coming).

Details @ https://janepedia.com/dear-martin/

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Dear Martin was an incredibly difficult book to read.

It’s a really short book, just over 200 pages, and every sentence is jam packed with reality. Honestly? It’s difficult to stomach. It’s supposed to be. Dear Martin is a book that makes you cringe because just about everyone in this book is racist. And before I go too deep here, I’m going to step back and say that I am a white girl living in Massachusetts and I have no idea the struggles young black man go through, especially in the American South. I am super privileged and I stand back and acknowledge that, and I’m grateful for it. I cannot imagine the daily trials from someone like Justyce.

Dear Martin tries to show some of those trials, so when you read this book… be prepared to be uncomfortable. It’s difficult to read. There are very few subtle acts of racism in this novel. From a classmate dressing up as a KKK member for Halloween to racially-charged murder, the events in Dear Martin may feel outrageous… but for some… for two many… this is just daily life. I’m grateful not to have witnessed anything like this myself, but a.) I am not a young black man; and b.) I don’t live in Georgia or one of the Southern States, which have always been more racially heated. After some of the news stories I’ve watched in the last two and a half years… I am becoming disillusioned about about the possibility of these things.

So that’s the content of Dear Martin, in a nutshell. Justyce is a young man just trying to be himself and live his life. In the first few pages,we see a young man trying to help his drunk friend get home safely turn quickly into a scene of racial profiling and wrongful arrest. This book is a good fit for those who enjoyed The Hate U Give and wanted to learn more. I don’t think anyone is going to pick up Dear Martin expecting a feel good book. When I reached the halfway point, I made a list of all the difficult topics I’d encountered so far. Here’s the list:

“Needing” a white savior
substance abuse
!! RACISM !! (- from all sides)
domestic abuse
interracial relationships and prejudice against them
police brutality
black face
racial stereotypes
historical/racial insensitivity
racial profiling
inequality in the workplace/classroom
resent over diversity hires/college acceptances
embodiment of racial hate symbols

This is in no particular order, and varies in severity (some of it is just a mention). If I haven’t already emphasized enough how many hard hitting topics there are in Dear Martin, let that be a sneak peek of the first 100 pages.

I thought this book was very powerful. To be honest, though? After a little while… I felt numb. And I think that can be a good thing. Dear Martin went in to unapologetically slam all these topics on the reader to wake them up, but it’s not a book that will delve deeply to flesh out a single incident. This is just a snapshot of Justyce’s daily life, and it’s up to the reader to dig for more information and become a better person after the book is over. I think that as a novel, The Hate U Give was more successful because of how Angie Thomas helped the reader into the story and focused really hard on a handful of racist incidents and tragedies. Reading Dear Martin, you walk out shell shocked. But I think that’s what Nic Stone set out to do… so well done.

And, I’ve got to be honest – it’s impossible not to compare the two. They came out at a similar time and covered very similar topics. From a flatly technical point of view, I think THUG was a better put together novel, but that shouldn’t lessen the message Dear Martin is trying to put across. I thought the characters here could have been rounded out a little better, and the plot could have stopped to breathe if this had another 100 pages, just so the readers could catch up. But it was a very successful novel in personal impact and I think everyone should read it.

[empressbrooke]

I really liked this one! It packs quite a bit into its just-over-200 pages, but it does so effectively. The author played around with storytelling formats - sometimes flipping to journal entries or news articles - which let her pack a lot of plot into a small space without disrupting the pacing. My favorite alternate format is when she changes the dialogue from typical prose into a screenplay format. It was often used when there was a big group discussion, such as in the classroom, and it did a really nice job of conveying a fast-moving conversation.

[Linda]

Dear Martin is a beautifully written story, where Justyce has to deal with the different ways life hands him hardship due to the color of his skin. And as he realized there is very little he can do to make things better, around him, the world appears to fall down.
FRC

[Joséphine]

July 31, 2018

Initial thoughts: The first time round I listened to the audiobook, my mind was kinda hazy. Truth be told, it's one of the few books that I couldn't even remember the plot of weeks after I was done. That's how I ended up rereading it over the past couple of days. I think that's because the characters beyond Justyce aren't as deeply developed as I would've liked. Plus my head just wasn't in it, so that's on me, not the book.

Dear Martin is such an important read that takes racism and the American criminal system under much needed scrutiny. It considers the disparities across race (and skin colour), and social class. While this is a work of fiction, it's based on the lives of many African American guys whose lives are on the line daily and who are falsely of crimes they didn't commit. From the current affairs standpoint, Dear Martin should be on your radar.

[girlinthepages]

I decided to try Dear Martin on audio because I had heard that it's a short book that packs an emotional punch, and still being one to ease myself into listening to audiobooks regularly, I was eager to see how a vivid tale could be told in just four short hours. However, Dear Martin doesn't disappoint and is by far the best contemporary audio book I've read so far, as the varied format kept me on my toes and the narrator does a phenomenal job telling the tragic yet extremely important tale of Justyce McAllister.

More and more YA books are tackling important social and political issues, making diversity a priority and expanding the point of views of characters. Like it's popular predecessor The Hate U Give, Dear Martin weaves a tale from the injustices happening seemingly every day against people of color, especially by police, and crafts the narrative in a way that shows even someone who defies stereotypes can still be essentialized and racially profiled. Justyce is at the top of his class, Ivy League bound, kind, conscientious, and still despite these accolades and accomplishments is constantly kicked down by circumstances out of his control. Being inside Justyce's head was really powerful and a great lens to listen through, especially as his narrative is broken up with news transcripts, articles, classroom debates, etc. This book also showed a LOT of different perspectives in a short amount of time (such as white characters who couldn't see how their behavior was problematic, black characters who felt like they didn't know how to socialize outside of white groups since they grew up in privileged schools/areas, parents being upset about their children dating white characters, etc). The book really showed how complex and multi faceted peoples' opinions and perceptions about different races and colors was, and that insight was really important and I think makes this book one of the most unique that I've read.

Perhaps the defining trait of the novel are the letters that Justyce writes to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., titled "Dear Martin" (hence the book title's name). Appearing at pivotal points throughout the narrative, they were extremely powerful as they showed Justyce's small yet continued realizations about his classmate's problematic behaviors and his growing frustrations with them, that eventually end in a tragedy that I don't think most readers will anticipate. The plot twist is shocking and sad, however hearing Justyce's commitment to try to embody Martin's philosophies and actions to deal with racism and evoke change even in the face of grief and trauma was really inspiring and very thoughtfully done.

Overall: Dear Martin is a thoughtful and intense novel that makes every page matter, and packs a powerful punch despite its small size. Though it tackles a lot of important, large issues, it also really sheds a light on the microaggressions and ingrained biases that people have and that Justyce has to navigate on a daily basis.This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages

[Amber]

This is one that I was super excited for because I was riding on the hype for The Hate U Give and was ready to read alllll of the books on the same (or similar) subject matter. Unfortunately I didn’t really like it. SORRY. Please don’t shout at me. Or do. Whatever.

My main issue with Dear Martin is that it was far too short. It’s a measly 210 pages. This meant that the story jumped around from point to point without connecting anything. This was either a result of heavy editing (why?!) or poor writing. Or both. I feel like everything could have done with being more developed.

I also really didn’t like the author’s use of transcripts in place of actual descriptions of scenes and dialogue. There were so many of them, and the switch between “normal” writing and these transcripts threw me off. It came across as really lazy and poor writing.

All that said, I really liked the main character, Justyce. He was adorable, and reading about him was a great experience, despite the poor writing. I adored his friendship with Manny as well 3

Obviously the book tackles a very important subject matter, and I would recommend reading it for that, if not for anything else. I’m really disappointed that I didn’t love this.