Stone’s protagonist is super-smart student Justyce in his senior year at a high school in Atlanta. Thing is, he’s black. As such, he was falsely arrested at the beginning of the novel. He and his best friend were shot after an incident of presumed racial profiling. His best friend died, and Justyce has to testify in the case against the shooter.
Justyce also must deal with reverse racist issues. He falls in love with a fellow student – his debate partner – who is Caucasian. Justyce’s mother, however, does not like the idea of Justyce having a white girlfriend. As such, there is plenty of drama going on in Justyce’s life and plenty that we can learn from.
Justyce keeps a journal in which he writes to Dr. Martin Luther King (hence the name of the book). He tries to learn to emulate King’s non-violence but finds it incredibly hard to do. On the verge of adulthood and matriculation at Yale, Justyce sees the world as a place hostile to him as a young black man. He experiences several incidents of racism during this senior year. He comes to accept these while still being understandably angered at the same time.
In empathizing with the protagonist, I saw how hard life can be to young black men in America. Even when they try to be the best and to do the best, they must deal with hassle after hassle of misunderstandings and profiling. Many will only see them as thugs and have no sympathy for their attempts to rise above. Of course, Dr. King knew all of this by experience – a fact that is never lost on Justyce as he composes the journal entries.
We all can learn from those who suffer plights that they did not deserve. Justyce does not deserve to be associated as a “bad kid” just because of the color of his skin. Although we like to think that we as a society have overcome race, racial effects linger all too long. Stone’s writing and imagination brings these effects to life. In a previous life, she was involved with mentoring projects to youth. It shows. Justyce’s character is a realistic everyman who does not deserve his suffering.
This book is appropriate for young adults trying to make sense of the world. However, one should be aware of language and heavy topics. As a coming-of-age book, Stone’s work does not try to sugar-coat the injustices of the world. Its purpose is to educate and empower with knowledge, but sometimes it seems that such knowledge only falls short. Justyce’s ending is happy, hopeful, and promising, and one can only hope that outcome is given to all young black men in America. It’s just sad to hear what it takes to get there.
Dear Martin: A Novel
By Nic Stone
Copyright (c) 2017
Ember
ISBN13 9781101939499
Page Count: 208
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
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