Review: "Dear Martin," by Nic Stone

When Justyce is sent to spend the night in jail after doing nothing wrong (only because he was a black kid helping a drunk white girl), he starts to live his life as he imagines Martin Luther King, Jr., would have. He hasn't really dealt with all the racism many black boys face because he attends a mostly white prep school, minds his business, gets good grades, and plans to go to college in the fall. But now all the issues are at the forefront of his mind, including how his friends at school behave towards black people. Justyce writes letters to Martin almost like writing in a journal, but he is faced with issues he didn't want to face - racism, injustice, disrespect, accusations, and more.

Dear Martin ranks up there with All-American Boys and The Hate U Give in detailing social injustice and racism in a young adult novel. I'm going to start Dear Justyce next!

Mrs. Denney's Rating: ***1/2

#review #diversity #family #violence #realisticfiction #racism #injustice