Dear Martin
Ratings83
Average rating4.2
Summary: After Justyce McAllister is—to his shock—handcuffed and treated unjustly by a police officer when he is trying to help a friend, he begins writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to try to process what is happening to and around him. As the year goes on, Justyce continues to write these letters, detailing his experiences navigating being a Black student in a predominantly white prep school and confronting the realities of racism and police brutality on both a personal and national scale.
A book everyone should read. It hurt my heart but I know this story is the story for so many black (or other stereotypes) boys and men.
Ein tolles Buch.
+ Justice ist ein toller mehrschichtiger Charakter der einem direkt an Herz wächst und ich habe sehr mit ihm mitgefühlt
+ die Story ist toll und auch sehr emotional
- es ging mir am Ende alles zu schnell , so 50 Seiten mehr und etwas mehr Hintergrund hätten mir gefallen
Daher gute 4 ⭐️
Dear Martin is a must read for everyone. This book deals with such an important topic and it portrays it brutally and honestly.
the writing was unfortunately poor for me however I think this would be a great novel to have in classrooms and shared amongst the younger kids in your life
I feel like nothing I say can ever do this book justice. The author tackles so many hard hitting topics perfectly and it made it difficult to read at times. I definitely feel like everyone needs to read this book because we can all learn something from it. I know this review is really short but I just feel like my words mean nothing. You should definitely seek out own voices reviews and read this book yourself.
“You can't change how other people think and act, but you're in full control of you. When it comes down to it, the only question that ever matters is this: If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be?” –Doc, page 205 of the eBook version
Dear Martin is about a teenage boy in Atlanta who is begins to have a greater awareness of the racial tensions and violence in his community after he is wrongfully detained. He tries to make sense of these interactions through the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. He begins to write letters (hence: ‘Dear Martin') to help him reflect on his progress.
At times, the situations that Martin finds himself in seem too coincidental and too unrealistic; however, I think it was balanced well. The characters had depth and were believable. There is a side plot with Martin and a girl he has a crush on that was both a sweet distraction and another look at the effects of racism. The author seemed hesitant to explore this path further, and I hope that if Martin's story continues, she sees where this idea goes.
This book is really important. I think everyone should read this and reflect over it after reading it.
Justyce McAllister is an African-American, a senior at a prep school, an honors student, and he is struggling to find his place in the world. He doesn't feel like he belongs in the hood where he grew up, but he doesn't feel like he belongs in the world of his private school either.
And then Justyce goes to the aid of his biracial girlfriend and ends up in handcuffs, and Justyce becomes really confused. He begins a journal to Martin Luther King, Jr. to try to sort out what is going on with him.
Why is life so troubling for African-Americans today? This reads like a genuine look at the world of a young black man, and the picture it presents is disturbing. It was a difficult read, but a worthy read, I think.
I loved being inside Justyce's head. And though there are terrifying and heart wrenching moments, Dear Martin leaves the read feeling hopeful. This has it all. Humor, sadness, love.....it also left me, at times, with that tightness in my chest signaling that I would love to scream at someone about the unfairness in life, especially life for a young, black male. Wanting to reach through the book at times and throttle someone, sometimes even Justyce because like a good writer, Stone penned a character who makes mistakes. A character who is a seventeen-year-old boy in every way.
Strong 4.5. Incredibly timely with great entry points into race relations in current and historical contexts for teens. Would make an amazing lit circle read and parts of the text are set as scripts, would be great to read/act as is or use that as a jump off for additional dialogue. The .5 knockoff was for some false notes in the dialogue that didn't feel as current or authentic