by Nic Stone
196 pages
This book is the sequel to Dear Martin. I am going to write this assuming that you have read Dear Martin If you have not, you might want to read it before you read this -- unless you don't care about spoilers, then read on.
Okay, so in the book Dear Martin, we are introduced to the character Justyce. The book began with Justyce being wrongfully detained by an Officer Castillo. This leads Justyce on a mission in which he continuously asks himself, "What would Martin do?" Later in the book, we learn that Officer Castillo was shot and killed by a kid named Quan who Justyce happens to know from his old neighborhood.
In Dear Justyce, we follow Quan's story. We learn about his background and how he came to be in the situation that lead to the shooting of Officer Castillo. This book follows the same format as the first. Each chapter gives us part of Quan's story, and then gives us a letter he writes. In this case, Quan is writing to Justyce. Justyce had gone to visit Quan in jail before he left for Yale, and the two have been in communication since.
We learn all about where Quan comes from, how he came to be part of the crew he was in, and follow his thoughts during his time in jail. Quan feels that Justyce is one of a very small number of people he can trust and confides in him. Justyce does what he can to help Quan, including getting his former teacher, "Doc", to go to the jail to tutor him. While in jail Quan earns his GED and also begins to see Doc as a positive, strong, black, male role model.
When Quan tells Justyce that he isn't actually the one who pulled the trigger on Officer Castillo, we get a closer look into the system that put Quan behind bars. With the help of Justyce, Doc, and a handful of others, will Quan be able to win his freedom?
I really like this follow up book. These two books together are perfect because they show us two sides of the same situation. Both Justyce and Quan are from the same neighborhood, but Justyce had the privilege of going to the exclusive high school and Quan didn't. Justyce has people like his mother and Doc who believed in him and Quan didn't. Is it choices they made? Is it circumstances they were given? What gave these two boys two very different lives?
I definitely recommend this book. Actually, BOTH of them.
4.5 Stars