By Mackenzie Smith, Book Club Participant

In our most recent Young Adult Book Club, we read Dear Martin by Nic Stone- here is a review from one of our readers!

“Dear Martin by Nic Stone introduces us to Justyce Mcallister, who is caught in the crosshairs of the media after shots are fired at him and his best friend Manny. Justyce is top of his class, Ivy League bound and set for a bright future, but none of that matters- at least not to the officer who put him in handcuffs. This book has a main POC character and narrator which is not often seen in many YA books. It focuses on what it’s like to be a racially profiled man of color in America currently. Dear Martin is one of several YA novels that seems to have emerged in response to the current police brutality and racial bias issue in America.

It doesn’t only focus on the larger acts of racism in modern-day, it also goes into smaller but equally important acts of racially charged aggression such as people (specifically white) simply dismissing harmful race-related jokes by saying “Stop being so sensitive” or “It was just a joke”. This book deals with many harmful issues that people of color currently have to deal with in modern society and forced me to realize the privilege and prejudice in my own life. This story can be so impactful to whoever picks it up, and the fact that it will most likely land in the hands of the people who need to learn from it makes me happy.

Dear Martin is a really moving, well-written, thought-provoking story that deals with many issues including race, violence, culture, identity, and relationships. This fast-paced book had me hooked from the first chapter and was very difficult to put down. The characters felt very relatable and real to me. It discusses topics that need to be more frequently discussed and was a powerful read. I think that this is a book many people should read at least once if not multiple times in their life. “