Dear Martin by Nic Stone

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. If you are searching for a novel your students will truly engage in, I suggest Dear Martin by Nic Stone.

This is the book that may change your students’ outlook on the purpose of reading. They will become emotionally engaged and pulled into the world of the characters. Students need to see that there’s more to reading than just skill and drill.

About Dear Martin

Dear Martin tells the story of Justyce McAllister, an intelligent senior on scholarship at Braselton Preparatory Academy. As we follow Justyce through his senior year, we see him struggle with being a victim of racial discrimination. The incident opens his eyes and now Justyce learns some of the hardest lessons in life.

Dear Martin is a story that addresses the many heavy issues that students of color face. This is a great book for students that are interested in social justice, law, politics, race relations, discrimination, the justice system, and community issues.

Here’s three reasons to make Dear Martin an option for your students:

1. It’s relevant. If you live in America, there’s no way you’ve missed the growing tensions on race relations and justice. Many students are concerned about these issues and want to tackle them. In this novel, Nic Stone did a great job showing different perspectives that allows for important discussions to take place surrounding these issues. We can’t sweep these problems in our country under the rug. We have to talk about it. Everyone, regardless of race and ethnicity, needs to talk about it.

2. This novel will get your reluctant readers engaged. Traditional literature, as wonderful as it is, is hard for many students to relate to and therefore, there’s no buy-in from the students. Simply put, they just don’t care. On the other hand, Dear Martin has characters that students can relate to.  In additions, there are topics that students are concerned about. As they read this book, they’ll want to have conversations and debate about the topics. They’ll definitely want to see how it ends! 3. Dear Martin is well written and it addresses many reading standards that you’re required to teach. For example, the book has dynamic characters, rich vocabulary, and strong symbols and motifs. You can push your students to higher level thinking by engaging in debates and discussions around the topics mentioned in the book.

Dear Martin just may be the book that turns your reluctant readers into readers. It may be the book that shows your students an alternative purpose in reading. It may be the book to change their lives.

You can find classroom resources for Dear Martin here.