Summer Reading has begun! My first choice from TBW Summer 2025 Reading List (here) was the audiobook of Dear Manny by Nic Stone. I could not wait to get my hands on Book 3 in the series after reading Dear Martin (Book 1) and Dear Justyce (Book 2) in 2020.
Using the young adult genre, the author, Nic Stone, challenges American race relations in the 21st century. If I were making a must-read list for teens, this three book series would be included. All three have been challenged and banned for language, sexuality and racial tendencies in some locations.
In Dear Martin, after a traffic stop turns violent, Justyce McAllister uses two questions to navigate his very turbulent senior year of high school.
- “What would Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. do?”
- “If the world doesn’t change, who will you be?”
Dear Justyce follows Quan, a teen who was incarcerated for killing a police officer. He writes letters to Justyce about his experience in the American juvenile justice system.
“How the hell’s a person supposed to give something they ain’t never had?”
This sentence brought me to tears! Quan’s character is an example of how the school to prison pipeline is a reality for far too many.
The trilogy about privilege and who is afforded access to it concludes in Dear Manny with Justyce’s white college roommate, Jared Christensen, who was a very unlikeable character in Dear Martin. Three years later, Jared is more aware of his own racism as he seeks to be an ally to the Black community.
When he runs for junior class president against his nemesis, Jared realizes he’s not as “woke” as he thought when a third candidate enters the race. The reader follows Jared as he works through his confusion while writing letters to his best friend, Manny, who was killed by an off-duty police officer.
Despite being YA novels, these are not lighthearted stories. If you are overwhelmed by the news of the day but have a desire to learn more, books are a great way to gain knowledge and empathy.
Look for these recommendations and other books at Knox County Online Library or your local independent book store each week.
Linda Sullivan is an avid reader and wants to make you one, too. For more recommendations or just to talk books, reach out to her at thebookwhisperertn@gmail.com and on @thebookwhisperertn on Instagram.
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