I devoured Dear Martin. I’m sorrowful it took me so long to pick up this book. I cracked the pages open one morning as I was waiting on my roommate. Four and a half hours later, I closed the cover again, feeling a little angrier at the world and frustrated by the impossibility of humankind. I was raw – the book hit every nerve in my soul and plucked them like a guitar. I have to review it this month.

This book is a must read.

(this review includes mild spoilers)

Dear Martin sucked me in from it’s beginning lines. The first page clung to me and by the end of the first chapter, I didn’t want to stop reading. Immediately I’m brought into a scenario that reeks of the injustice and stereotypes perpetuated in our legal system. My stomach clenches and it stays that way for the rest of the book.

Main character: Justyce. He’s a smart kid with a promising future but his identity as a black man shadows his every move. He’s born in the ‘wrong’ side of town, sometimes he and his friends like their music loud, he doesn’t want to have to put up with racism – so he’s a target. In the court of public opinion, he’s crucified, not the cop that shot them.

The novel cuts between Justyce’s life and his letter’s to MLK seamlessly. We’re given the very heart and soul of Justyce on a platter. And his struggle is our own. For every step forward you take it seems the shifting sand of society sets you back three more. When you get to the top of the hill you’re winded, dripping with sweat and everyone else around you is dabbing at their dry faces with damp towels. No one offers you a damp towel.

Stone does an excellent job of laying out the arguments of every player at the table, weaving them together in a masterful mess. No one’s the bad guy in their eyes and it makes the book all the more difficult and yet captivating.

“What are you talking about? I don’t know where all this me against the world shit is comin’ from but you really need to check yourself.”

“These dudes disrespect you – disrespect us – all the time, and you never say anything about it. You just go along with whatever they say.”

“These are my friends, Jus. You’re way too sensitive, man.”

“Lemme guess: that’s what they sad when you took offense at some racist joke, right?”

Stone, Nic. Dear Martin. 1st ed., Ember, 2017.

I don’t often read books written from the perspective of male characters. Not by any means on purpose. The new perspective was a fresh breath of air. I got to see the effect on his relationships, school, his family through his eyes. I’ve seen the fragility of opinion and discourse play out on social media. But, it’s another thing altogether to sit inside the mind of someone while it’s happening to them personally.

I’m reminded of frustrating conversations I’ve had where the other person just doesn’t get it, doesn’t seem to understand that all I want is respect. Don’t say that. Don’t do that. Please and thank you. Conversations where they deny their actions, conversations where slur words are used and no one speaks up except me. And I’m reminded of the times where people tried to shame me, trip me up for having the audacity to say something wasn’t OK. The audacity to challenge.

It’s easy to become detached when the flow of pain and anger is non-stop. It’s easy to try to separate yourself, to say: ‘oh, I’m not like them, that could never happen to me’. But this story reminds us that it can happen. It also puts the thought in your head: if this happened to me, would they believe me.

I’m giving this book a 4.5 star review. It gave me a new perspective, it made the issue personal. The writing was neat, clean and engrossing. I got to grow and change with the character. I was not a fan in the stands when I read this book. I was a participant.

I want to end this review on a contemplative note. The book is heart wrenching. It would be easy to put it down and shove it away to a dark corner of our minds and bookshelves where we don’t have to think about the pain that cracks the surface of our nation. But the rise of social media has made it easier to crucify a person. Our legal system’s already in such a state of disrepair and corruption, it only takes a match to lose the battle. Only a gunshot and suddenly the victim has to answer for the abuser’s crimes. The victim is being held on trial instead of the antagonist and the defamation to the victim’s name will haunt them for the rest of their life.

---

I’m reviewing nine books in honor of Black History Month: check out the line up on GoodReads.