Bibliographic Information:
Author: Nic Stone
Title: Dear Martin
Copyright:2008
Publisher: Ember
ISBN: 978-1101939529
Summary: Justyce McAllister is a good kid. He is at the top of his class, and ready for the Ivy league, but to the police officer who put him in hand cuffs, he is just another Black kid. Justyce left his old neighborhood behind, but still receives scorn not only from his former peers but his new classmates as well. He looks to the teachings of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr to guide him through these difficult times. However it seems as if Dr. King’s teaching don’t necessarily work in today’s society. Or do they? He starts writing to Dr. King in a journal to process his thoughts. Then one day, a simple ride with his best friend Manny turns into an ugly incident involving an off duty police officer and shots. Will Justyce be able to clear his name?
Critical Evaluation: “This book is absolutely amazing. I loved that the author chose the character of Justyce to be an African American kid at the top of his class. There are so many times in media, movies, and even the news that the African American kids are portrayed as automatic troublemakers, who don’t go to school, and just engage in illegal activities as well as general wrong doing. For once, there is a book with a positive portrayal of a young up and coming decent Black kid. The author did a wonderful job painting a clear and realistic picture for what it is like for African American boys to navigate through life when they are purposely treated as second hand citizen’s due to the color of their skin. It is written in such a powerful thought provoking way that those that aren’t African Americans can understand the struggles associated with being African American in today’s society. Also having Justyce journal his feelings to Dr. King was a unique twist that I enjoyed because it reiterates that the stereotype/assumption that African American boys are violent is wrong.
Reader’s Annotation: What was supposed to be a fun drive with his best friend Manny, quickly turns into a nightmare for Justyce. Will he be able to clear his name?
Author Information: Nic Sone is an author. Nic stands for Nicole which is her middle name, and in the interview on her home page she wouldn’t give the interviewer her real name. She is many different ethnicities but says that being African American is her favorite. Nic recalls telling her eight grade best friend that one day she would be a New York Times Best Seller. In addition to writing “Dear Martin” which was a New York Times Best Seller, she has also written the book “Odd One Out”.
Interestingly enough, Nic didn’t think she could really write fiction until 2013. What held her back was that she didn’t see a lot of other authors (that looked like her), writing about the type of content that she wanted to write about. She is a strong believer of walking in someone else’s shoes in order to understand their situation. A fun fact about her is that she lived in Israel for a few years before she decided to come back to the United States to be full time writer.
Genre- Fiction
Curriculum Ties– English
Book Talk Ideas: Driving while Black
Reading Level/Interest Age– Grades 9-12
Challenge Issues & Defense Preparation:
Challenge Issues: Driving While Black; Police; Situations With African American Boys
Selection Policy: http://ccclib.org/policies/CollectionDevelopmentAccess-1999-11-16.pdf
Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/intfreedom/librarybill/lbor.pdf
Book Reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24974996-dear-martin?from_search=true
Right to Read: http://www2.ncte.org/statement/righttoreadguideline/
Rationale:
Bibliographic Information:
Author: Nic Stone
Title: Dear Martin
Copyright:2008
Publisher: Ember
ISBN: 978-1101939529
Intended Audience: The intended audience is young adults specifically the upper grades of 9-12. This particular book would be beneficial for an English or social studies class. Primarily the book will be used for individual study in which every member of the class should read the book, and then afterwards there can be a group discussion of what transpired in the book as well as observations and thoughts concerning the book. “Dear Martin” can be utilized to start discussions concerning the struggles of African American boys in today’s society.
Summary: Justyce McAllister is a good kid. He is at the top of his class, and ready for the Ivy league, but to the police officer who put him in hand cuffs, he is just another Black kid. Justyce left his old neighborhood behind, but still receives scorn not only from his former peers but his new classmates as well. He looks to the teachings of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr to guide him through these difficult times. However it seems as if Dr. King’s teaching don’t necessarily work in today’s society. Or do they? He starts writing to Dr. King in a journal to process his thoughts. Then one day, a simple ride with his best friend Manny turns into an ugly incident involving an off duty police officer and shots. Will Justyce be able to clear his name?
Relationship to Program: The relationship of the book to school objectives would be helping 9th graders develop their literal and inferential understanding skills and comprehension skills. Through reading this book they would learn SLE # R.9.9.1 Connect own background knowledge, including personal experience and perspectives shaped by age, gender, class or national origin, to determine author’s purpose. R.9.9.5. Draw inferences from a sentence or a paragraph (including conclusions, generalizations and predictions) and support them with text evidence. Concerning summary and generalization students will utilize R.9.9.8 Summarize and paraphrase structures in informational and literary texts, including relationships among concepts and details. Concerning analysis and evaluation students will utilize R. 9.9.11 Recognize and define various points of view (e.g., omniscient narrator, third person limited) and R. 9.9.13 Identify and discuss a position using concepts gained from reading (e.g. debate, discussion, position paper, etc.).
http://www.fayar.net/edvision/language/09_reading_0405.pdf
Impact: This book could definitely have a positive impact on the beliefs and perspectives of the teens. I think this would be a good book for African American teenage boys to read because the main character Justyce is a good kid making good grades just trying to live his normal life. It would be good for them to see that there are accurate and positive portrayals of them such as this book. Also reading the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King can inspire the teens to not be so quick to fight back to any injustices against them as well as how to avoid violence.
Why Included: This book provides a voice for the African American boys who are finding themselves in these types of situations every day. It is important for them to see themselves in a positive light despite the difficult circumstances that they may face. The teens may very well find similarities between them and Justyce. Reading this book, may also be a gateway book in which they discover their love for reading as well.
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