This is probably a book that will make you angry. And it should, because it is fiction that could just as easily be nonfiction.
We follow high school senior Justyce during his run-ins with the police and his interactions with peers, some of whom are racist but certainly don’t think that they are. After his first run-in with the police, he decides to start an experiment to be like Martin Luther King Jr. He revisits King’s writings and writes letters to him, which is where the Dear Martin title comes from. While most of the book is written in third person, we do get first-person perspective in those letters, and I liked those letters more. I preferred the deeper insight into Justyce’s thoughts and feelings.
The writing is simple and accessible, with the focus being more on Justyce’s relationships with peers, as well as on the casual and not-so-casual racism that he experiences. This book feels very true to life, even down to the fictional newspaper articles that are included. It succeeded at what I assume it set out to do: some parts really made me mad.
I liked this book, and I’m glad I read it as part of a banned books book club. It is an important read. But it is also continuing to confirm that YA books that aren’t fantasy only do so much to engage me, though I did tear up a bit at the very end. Nevertheless, I recommend it. We should all be reading banned books and encouraging others to do the same.
