Dear Justyce
An NPR Best Book of the Year * The stunning sequel to the critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Martin. An incarcerated teen writes letters to his best friend about his experiences in the American juvenile justice system.
An unflinching look into the tragically flawed practices and silenced voices in the American juvenile justice system.
Vernell LaQuan Banks and Justyce McAllister grew up a block apart in the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood of Wynwood Heights. Years later, though, Justyce walks the illustrious halls of Yale University . . . and Quan sits behind bars at the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center.
Through a series of flashbacks, vignettes, and letters to Justyce--the protagonist of Dear Martin--Quan's story takes form. Troubles at home and misunderstandings at school give rise to police encounters and tough decisions. But then there's a dead cop and a weapon with Quan's prints on it. What leads a bright kid down a road to a murder charge? Not even Quan is sure.
"A powerful, raw, must-read told through the lens of a Black boy ensnared by our broken criminal justice system." -Kirkus, Starred Review
An unflinching look into the tragically flawed practices and silenced voices in the American juvenile justice system.
Vernell LaQuan Banks and Justyce McAllister grew up a block apart in the Southwest Atlanta neighborhood of Wynwood Heights. Years later, though, Justyce walks the illustrious halls of Yale University . . . and Quan sits behind bars at the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center.
Through a series of flashbacks, vignettes, and letters to Justyce--the protagonist of Dear Martin--Quan's story takes form. Troubles at home and misunderstandings at school give rise to police encounters and tough decisions. But then there's a dead cop and a weapon with Quan's prints on it. What leads a bright kid down a road to a murder charge? Not even Quan is sure.
"A powerful, raw, must-read told through the lens of a Black boy ensnared by our broken criminal justice system." -Kirkus, Starred Review
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Community Reviews
What a marvelous book!! I would definitely recommend reading Dear Martin first but I still feel like you can get a lot out of this book without reading it or after reading it long after. This book does a really compelling job bringing up the issues of destiny, racism, and justice. In his letters and throughout the book, Quan wonders if his current situation is based on his decisions or if this was meant to happen no matter what because of his race and the type of environment he grew up in. And I think this was a very powerful question. Do we have a specific destiny or can positive influences and positive opportunities lead you down a different path? In addition to this, this book deals with the very real issue of false imprisonment of African Americans. Quan brings up how different he sees people treated through the legal system so again, was he destined to get the predicament he had or would his story have been different if he was White? I think Nic Stone does a great job bringing up the issues of fair treatment, justice, and police misconduct that often lead to wrongful imprisonment or lead certain people down the wrong path because they think there is no other out. Highly recommend!!
There are many who refuse to even try to understand how different upbringings can genuinely lead to opportunities seeming quite impossible for some people. We watch movies that depict a narrative and judge others who aren't able to get themselves out of specific environments. Once again, I urge people to read outside their comfort zone and read this story.
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