"Powerful, wrenching.” –JOHN GREEN, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down
"Raw and gripping." –JASON REYNOLDS, New York Times bestselling coauthor of All American Boys
"A must-read!” –ANGIE THOMAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give
Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning #1 New York Times bestselling debut, a William C. Morris Award Finalist.Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. 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.
"Vivid and powerful." -Booklist, Starred Review "A visceral portrait of a young man reckoning with the ugly, persistent violence of social injustice." -Publishers Weekly
On sale: September 4, 2018
Age: 14 and up
Grade: Grade 9 & Up
Page count: 240 Pages
ISBN: 9781101939529
Reading level: Lexile: HL720L
Nic Stone is a native of Atlanta and a Spelman College graduate. After working extensively in teen mentoring and living in Israel for a few years, she returned to the United States to write full-time.
Dear Martin, her first novel, is loosely based on a series of true events involving the shooting deaths of unarmed African American teenagers. Shaken by the various responses to these incidents—and to the pro-justice movement that sprang up as a result—Stone began the project in an attempt to examine current affairs through the lens of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings.
You can find her fangirling over her husband and sons on Twitter and Instagram at @getnicced or on her website nicstone.info.
Praise for Dear Martin:A New York Times Bestseller!
A William C. Morris Award Finalist!
An ALAN / Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist!
A 2018 BookExpo Editors' Buzz Selection!
An Indies Introduce Selection!
A Kids' Indie Next List pick! “A powerful, wrenching, and compulsively readable story that lays bare the history, and the present, of racism in America.”
–John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down "Painfully timely and deeply moving."
–Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author "Raw and gripping."
–Jason Reynolds, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Long Way Down "Absolutely incredible, honest, gut-wrenching. A must read!"
–Angie Thomas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give "Teens, librarians and teachers alike will find this book a godsend...Vivid and powerful."
–Booklist, Starred Review "A visceral portrait of a young man reckoning with the ugly, persistent violence of social injustice."
–Publishers Weekly
