Dear Martin: 04/20/20

Dear Martin by Nic Stone is about Justyce McAllister, months away from being Ivy League bound. Things start to go bad for him when he's arrested for assaulting a drunk white woman. The reality, though, is she's his girl friend and dangerously drunk. He was trying to stop her from driving her car. Racial profiling, though, makes reading a situation impossible.

Justyce vents about his situation through letters to Dr. Martin Luther King. He's the Martin in the title. Much of the plot progression happens in these letters. Frankly the entire book would have been stronger as an epistolary novel.

Then there are extended passages of dialog involving white boys at his high school. These are rendered as screenplay dialogue. With three competing forms of narration I found myself distracted even though the narrative was raw and rage inducing.

The sequel Dear Justyce is scheduled for release on October 6, 2020. I am planning on reading it.

Three stars

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