Review of Dear Martin

Dear Martin by Nic Stone (2017)

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

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 matters is this: If nothing in the world ever changes, what type of man are you gonna be? – Jarius “Doc” Dray

People often learn more from getting an undeserved pass than they would from being punished. – Julian Rivers

 In a phrase Dear Martin is thought provoking.

But it does feel a little simplistic and predictable. At 210 pages something had to miss out and in this case, author Nic Stone elected to skip a lot of the nitty-gritty detail. I specifically wanted to read a book aimed at young people looking at the current tension in the US (police, African-American communities, gun culture, that is an extreme oversimplification kind to none) that wasn’t The Hate U Give. I chose Dear Martin due to it receiving some acclaim.

The protagonist of Dear Martin is Justyce MacAllister a 17-year-old honours student raised in the bad part of town on the fast track to the Ivy league. Dear Martin starts with him getting arrested for try to help his on-again-off-again girlfriend Melo. After that is cleared up he starts writing letters to Martin Luther King Jr (hence the title) as a way to sort out where he is in his life, who he is, who he wants to be. Racism and drama ensue. Justyce is a gorgeous character, lovable and hard for me to fault. His mistakes are that of a young person trying to find their way. And his loyalty is terrifying.

The supporting cast were wonderful. SJ is sweet. Her personality is exactly what an ally needs to be. Doc is an inspiration, I would suspect that he is based on a real person. Justyce’s Mama felt real. She comes across as both wait, what and likeable. Circumstances make her brilliant. Most of the rest are multifaceted and human. Everyone is flawed and that is important.

The writing hooked me. Nic Stone does a fairly good job to my eyes of male voice (for example Justyce is unaware of the term for a makeup compact). The language is stereotypical of what I am aware of for African-American culture. Point of view is consistent, always with Justyce but the person alters sometimes. Letters (diaryish), articles, transcripts are added and mixed to create and tell the story. It makes it a bit quirky. Time is difficult, 210 pages is just over one year. But that is not often made clear. I didn’t feel drawn into Justyce’s world, which feels right as a white, Australian female.

As for the necessity of Dear Martin for Australian libraries. As a vocalisation of a modern issue, it may not be a must but it should certainly be on a want list, young men may relate better to Justyce than to The Hate U Give’s Starr. And modern youth, modern global citizens will be aware of this issue providing them access to it is something the library is able to do. As an additional point, it is worth comparing the stereotyping of African-American people and Aboriginal people, I’m not sold on the experience being that different these days. (no insult is intended to any party).

My reading experience in a gif:

Crossposted on Goodreads.

References

Cover for 9781101939499. (n.d.). Penguin Random House. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://images.penguinrandomhouse.com/cover/9781101939499

The Hate U Give. (n.d.). In Goodreads. Retrieved May 11, 2018, from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32075671-the-hate-u-give

McPherson, C. (2018, May 11). Catherine McP's review of Dear Martin. Goodreads. [Goodreads Review]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2386410582

Stone, N. (2017). Dear Martin. United States: Crown.

wifflegif.com. (n.d.). Think Sesame Street. Giphy. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/sesame-street-fma-elmo-8acGIeFnqLA7S/links