Dear Martin

Dear Martin by Nic Stone - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Publisher

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.

My Review
Format: Audiobook
Length: 273 Minutes | 4.5 hours
Genre: YA Literature, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction
Series: N/A
Content Warning: profanity, language, fighting, racial slurs, racism, police brutality

This book is so powerful. I absolutely love that the protagonist, Justyce McCallister, starts his journey to be like Martin Luther King Jr. by writing letters to him. Overall, this was a short, but beautiful, powerful read, and I highly recommend it!

The Good: 

• The format. This book is written in prose as well as letters that Justyce writes to MLK. The letters really complemented the storytelling and supported the character development. 
• Justyce. Justyce is a very likable character. He has flaws, but he tries to do the right thing, even if it is hard...just like Martin. His growth in this novel is phenomenal.
• The narrator is excellent. He did a great job of making the story come to live and giving each character their own voice.   
• The story does not shy away from hot topic issues such as police brutality and racism. 
• The characters were well developed. Nic Stone did a great job of bringing forth their personalities, humor, flaws, and all. They were depicted as normal people. There were a few extreme characters (you will know when you come across them in your reading), but overall these are characters that I might encounter in a normal day, which was refreshing and made the book more authentic and realistic.