Dear Martin
by Nic Stone
★ Top 25 book of 2017 · #24 on Best Books of 2017
Justyce McAllister is a conscientious honor student, yet he is handcuffed by a police officer anyway. Seeking answers, he writes journal letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., until a tense encounter with an off-duty cop turns violent.
Best for: Teen and adult readers interested in honest stories about race in America
Dear Martin is #24 on BookWard's Best Books of 2017, out of 73 2017 books that cleared our data bar.
What Dear Martin is about
Justyce McAllister does everything right. He is an honor student, a loyal friend, and someone who leaves his old neighborhood behind for a better path. Then a police officer handcuffs him anyway, and the record he worked so hard to build seems not to count for much. At school he faces ridicule from new classmates, and back home the scorn of former peers hasn't faded, so he belongs fully in neither place.
Looking for answers, Justyce turns to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and starts writing him letters in a journal, asking whether those ideas still hold up today. Then a drive with his best friend Manny, music turned up loud, brings a furious encounter with a white off-duty cop. Nic Stone's debut, a #1 New York Times bestseller and William C. Morris Award Finalist, tackles American race relations through Justyce McAllister, a good kid and honor student.
Dear Martin on the Best Books of 2017
Dear Martin came out in 2017. Of the 73 books first published in 2017 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #24 on our Best Books of 2017 list.
Why it made the list: 295 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (10 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2017 list
- Tower of Dawn Sarah J. Maas, #22
- Children of Blood and Bone Tomi Adeyemi, #23
- All Systems Red Martha Wells, #25
See all Best Books of 2017 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2016 Best Books of 2018.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 271 want to read it, 10 are reading it now and 14 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.9 out of 5 from 10 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 56 | 55% |
| Reader love | 89 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 45 | 20% |
Questions about Dear Martin
When was Dear Martin published?
Dear Martin by Nic Stone was first published in 2017.
Was Dear Martin one of the best books of 2017?
Dear Martin is #24 on BookWard's Best Books of 2017, out of 73 2017 books that cleared our data bar. 295 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (10 ratings).
Why is Dear Martin on the Best Books of 2017 list?
295 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.9 out of 5 (10 ratings).
More of the best books of 2017
- The Hate U Give Angie Thomas, #1
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid, #2
- A Court of Wings and Ruin Sarah J. Maas, #3
- One of Us Is Lying Karen M. McManus, #4
- The Dark Prophecy Rick Riordan, #5
- Why We Sleep Matthew P. Walker, #6
See the full Best Books of 2017, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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