So I grew up with very excellent white people who, to this day, are very supportive of me and my work, even when it makes them uncomfortable. Justyce’s internal dialogue about this seemed very heartfelt and brings some important considerations about interracial friendships to the surface. Justyce is very aware of the importance of these white people in his life, but he also feels conflicted about it.

He benefits from a great relationship with a black professor in the story, but there are also some important white characters who influence and support him.

Even Einstein was capable of punching someone in the face when he was pissed off, you know? ALL of us have the capacity to let our emotions to get the best of us. I, like Justyce, was a highly intelligent, generally level-headed teenager… but that didn’t stop me from keying my mom’s car. In fact, one rarely has anything to do with the other. In a nutshell, that being smart and doing *stupid* things aren’t mutually exclusive. What do you hope your readers will learn from his struggles? Even so, he finds himself in trouble, serious trouble, many times throughout the story.

Obviously, Justyce is a pretty level-headed and very intelligent guy. Nic: Eep! Making me blush already! Thanks for having me 🙂 Writing it must have been difficult both technically and emotionally, but I’m thankful you did. I am more than thrilled to welcome Nic Stone to The Winged Pen! Congratulations, Nic! DEAR MARTIN is an important, powerful book that I hope many, many people-especially teens-will read. A must-read for high schoolers and older. It’s impossible to read DEAR MARTIN without feeling changed, moved. King’s teachings are still relevant and starts looking for answers in a place he thought he’d left behind.Īuthor Nic Stone doesn’t give us the answers, but she frames questions in a fresh, thoughtful way, promoting deeper dialogue helpful for understanding and confronting racism and social injustice. When a second run in with police ends in tragedy, Justyce grapples with being powerless to escape systemic racism. As Justyce searches for answers to explain why he’s now facing scorn from his peers despite being a good kid and a star student, he writes letters to Dr. Meanwhile, daily news accounts of young black men being shot or arrested flood the airwaves, stirring up strong opinions among his classmates. Black Yale-bound graduating senior Justyce McAllister’s good life at his prestigious, mostly-white prep school takes on a new harsh reality after he’s falsely accused of crimes and roughed up by a policeman while innocently helping a friend.

Dear martin nic stone