Wrong place, wrong time. Young. Poor. Black. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. I know you probably haven’t because stories like Quan’s don’t get told. They’re subtitles on the back page of the newspaper, if that. Thank you Nic Stone for giving kids like Quan a voice, a face, and a name. Fans of Just Mercy will love this book and see that Quan is just one example of many—a young Black man unjustly placed in an overcrowded prison system. They deserve their own justice. They also need our support. I plan on doing the best I can to give it to my students so they don’t end up in the system. Read the Author’s Note at the end. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Nic Stone has once again used her magic to capture hard truth in this eye-opening novel.

Quan has been incarcerated for a crime to which he confessed. He has spent more than a year waiting for a trial - 16 months spent with a lot of time to reflect on not only the moment in time leading to his arrest, but also the defining moments of his childhood.
Childhood acquaintance Justyce McAllister shared his Dear Martin notebook with Quan and now Quan is writing letters to Justyce. Sharing truths no one else knows, including truths about what happened the night Officer Castillo was shot and killed.

This book was heart -wrenching. It was difficult to read because of how true it is. Having spent even a minuscule amount of time volunteering in a juvenile detention center, my brain couldn’t stop thinking about all those young men and how Quan’s story was a reflection of so many of their experiences. Even more difficult to process was that the support Quan gets from Justyce and other advocates in his life is, as Stone says in her author’s note, the most fictional part of the story.

I am so glad those young men texted Nic and asked her to write about boys like them- to be their voice.

Quan’s story is the other side of Dear Martin. It’s the story that needed to be told, but it’s the hardest to tell. Most of us remember Justyce and kids like him, but kids like LaQuan? We like to pretend we don’t see them, or that there’s nothing we can do for them.

Nic Stone’s sequel to Dear Martin is even more powerful if that’s possible. It reminds us that we can all make a difference if we just really look and listen and most of all if we care. What chance do you have when you have everything stacked against you?

Nic Stone never disappoints.
Dear Justyce is the best mirror/window book I've read in 2020.

The social and racial biases of our nation written out in this story will make readers angry.
The honesty will open eyes and bring hope. Believe that the cycle can be broken.

Familiar characters from Dear Martin are throughout the story, however, Dear Justyce can stand on its own.

This sequel to Dear Martin does not disappoint. Dear Justyce takes readers on a journey exposing the school-to-prison pipeline and the injustice that many black and brown young adults face in this country. Readers follow Vernell LaQuan Banks Jr. through his experience as a young child watching his father being arrested to Vernell, himself being incarcerated. While incarcerated, Vernell (Quan), writes letters to Justyce McAllister, who is completing his first year, Pre-Law at Yale. Through these correspondences, readers learn more about Quan’s story and what ultimately leads him to be incarcerated. This novel was hard to put down, yet strikingly hard to read at times as a teacher. Nic Stone does a phenomenal job showing what life is like for teens who live life with financial instability, hostile family relationships, gang violence, and racial bias and injustice. While this book is a work of fiction it is rooted in an alarming reality. Readers who enjoyed books like Dear Martin, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, and Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds should read this timely and eye-opening novel.