Dear Martin by Nic Stone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Impactful. Important. Immersive.
There are many different ways in which we learn about the world around us. One of the most important ways is through experience.
Our personal experiences help to shape our views, opinions and really who we are as people.
As we all know, people experience the world differently for a variety of distinct reasons. Unfortunately, one way in which this is true is based on the color of a person’s skin.
I know that as a white person, there are certain issues that I will never understand based on personal experience; I have to look outside myself and my day-to-day existence if I want to acknowledge and understand these important matters that affect so many.
That’s one of the reasons why I think books such as this are so crucial. That’s one of the many reasons why there has been such a push, and a well-received push fortunately, for more OWN voices books.
They provide windows through the eyes of the characters, so the reader can learn and gain knowledge from the life experiences of another.
Dear Martin is a wonderfully written novella about a boy struggling to understand race relations within his community and the country, the United States, at large.
I loved the format of this and although some of it seemed ‘surface level’, as I have noticed some readers comment, I think overall that was a wise choice by the author.
In my opinion, to make this story approachable to the widest audience, it was important to keep it this way. Not everyone is comfortable picking up a 400 or 500-page book like most of us are.
I think the way this story was written helps to get it into the hands of the largest number of people possible and for a story as important as this, that is what matters.
I highly recommend picking this one up if you haven’t already.
Nic Stone is a talented storyteller and I look forward to reading more of her work.
As mentioned above, this is short so if you are looking for some shorter reads to help you reach that GoodReads 2019 Reading Challenge goal, you should definitely pick this one up.