Dear Martin is one of those books I can’t believe I didn’t pick up sooner. I heard all the hype and somehow it just slipped deeper into my TBR, but as I was scrolling Scribd I found it and listened and I am so remorseful I didn’t read this sooner.
Summary
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.
Review
Dear Martin is powerful, gripping, and heart wrenching. Reeling from the loss of his best friend, Justyce is thrown headfirst into a journey where he must question his identity, how he handles the racism, and how he will move on from his best friend’s death. It’s a book that starts before the death of his best friend as Justyce writes letters to Dr. Martin Luther King.
Dear Martin is gripping and incredibly necessary. It’s a shorter book than you might be expecting, but it brings up issues of dealing with the racism of our peers, within our family, and not letting it change who we are.
So many conversations from Dear Martin could have been ripped out of my past. While I’m not Black, I have heard so many conversations about affirmative action, color blindness, and stereotypes. I’m not at all equating our experiences, it was just a way I related and thought, “Yes, I’ve also had these conversations”.
It’s about racism, racial profiling, police brutality, and more. I feel like Dear Martin should be required reading because of the fantastic and insightful ways Stone brings up these issues, as well as the counter arguments.
I could not stop listening to Dear Martin, even when my heart ached for Justyce and that feeling of not fitting in anywhere and the immense rage of injustice.
Find Dear Martin on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound & The Book Depository.