With Thanks to @getnicced and Her YA Novel, DEAR MARTIN. On The Syllabus

Every semester I like to put a book on my syllabus that I haven't read, but want to. I like to teach it in a graduate class for English majors who are coming into the teaching profession, often with a zest for classical literature, and naive about the youth cultures they will be fortunate to teach in 6th-12th grade classrooms. I think it was year one when I said to myself, "I have to completely undo my literature major if I am going to be successful." Why? Because I taught in a super diverse environment and if I really wanted my students to be critical thinkers in their worlds (and change agents for their own lives), I needed to find the books that would best appeal to them.

For the last year, I've heard tremendous things about Nic Stone's Dear Martin and I couldn't wait to get my copy in the mail. Lucky for me, Phoebe Yeh of Crown Books (Penguin Random House) mailed me a copy for Christmas (surprise gift that I will always cherish).

I knew before reading it that I wanted it on my spring syllabus. Attallah Sheppard, poet and human-extraordinaire, has a spoken word piece called Dear Martin that we've used in Writing Our Lives events for several years. She and I have used her poetry during MLK Youth Academies at Fairfield University, as well as our presentations in NYC, Chicago, Syracuse, and Connecticut. When I first saw the YA novel coming out with the same title of one of my favorite Attallah poems, Dear Martin I called her to say , "We need to read Nic Stone's book."

As I learned when I first moved to Connecticut and worked with Bridgeport youth, our young men want to stand for integrity. They need teachers to share books that are relevant to their lives.

I noted when Kwame Alexander first sent me a copy of The Crossover, that the YA novel was sure to win awards. Why? It is a book I wish I had when I was still teaching high school in Louisville, Kentucky. The publishing industry is finally catching up with the pulse of American youth culture. There are so many conversations teachers are able to have with young people because writers like Nic Stone are finally having their stories published in the world.
(Yes, mom....you will love this book. No, mom, I haven't met Nic Stone yet, but I hope to).

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. ~Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Peace Price Acceptance Speech, December 10, 1964.

So begins the book, Dear Martin, written by the author.

For today, I'm not going forward with reviewing the text, quoting it and offering an academic's perspective (although I'm sure those days are coming). Rather, I simply want to note how wonderful I thought the text was for initiating conversations. Because the story takes many perspectives, a reader will be prompted to think critically about our racial history and the multiple ways bias interrupts fairness.

I wrote good friends after finishing it, in fact, to recommend it to their 8th grade son who is considering what high school to go to and, with Princeton-graduate parents (imagine if Justyce and SJ married and raised a family), he's been thinking about his position in the world and a nation complicated by race, its history, and the 21st century.  I thought, too, of my own family and the dialogue I want to have as a result of being a mixed household. These conversations are needed, but not easy. Nic Stone has offered us help.

What impressed me most about Nic Stone's narrative is in the body of the story, yes, but also in the "About the Author" section, that briefly noted her background.

Nic Stone was born and raised in a suburb of Atlanta, and the only thing she loves more than an adventure is a good story about one. After graduating from Spelman College, she went on to work extensively in teen mentoring and lived in Israel for a few years returning to the United States to write full-time. Growing up with a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds, Stone strives to bring these diverse voices and stories to her work. (P. 211)

This last year has reminded me that a portion of the United States has not had multicultural experiences and, as a result, has a tremendous absence in their lives. They need a wider range. I'm thankful for any writer who promotes the need for a wide range of cultures, religions, and backgrounds in our nation's stories.

Where I taught in Louisville, diversity was the mission and promoting an individual well-being of every student is what we thrived for. Perhaps this is why I'm drawn to literature about changing demographics, super diversity, and the richness and beauty of a multicultural society. I feel the most comfortable when in the pastiche of American culture - the real one that has representation from all over the world.  For this reason, I'm thankful for Dear Martin and the angles she explores with a variety of characters (and parallels) easy to imagine in modern times.

Conversations of race, of history, of inequities, of injustice, and of bigotry continue. They are difficult, especially at this time. Dear Martin, however, will allow middle and high school students to join the conversation, and also to begin to interrogate the complexities of a divided society. Knowing the young people I've worked with for the last 25 years, I know this will be a book that will quickly spread by word of mouth (I was impressed, in fact, that when I called my friends to recommend it, they said, "We bought it for our son for Christmas. It's what he wanted").

Boom.

That's the power of an important book and I'm sure it is spreading throughout youth communities at tremendous paces.

So, I'm looking forward to sharing Dear Martin with my graduate students this semester in a Developmental Reading in Secondary Schools course. I also look forward to pairing the YA novel with poetry, historical texts, news, and film to demonstrate/model what they might do in their own classrooms one day.

As I told Kwame when I read a draft of The Crossover, "You've written a book I was severely missing when I was in the high school classroom. You wrote the missing link."

Nic Stone has done the same.

Now, it's time for me to get my grant-writing tendencies moving quickly and to making sure that this gets in the hands of the schools I serve. I am a better man for reading it. They will be to.

And I should explain the top photo. I had my car worked on yesterday, so brought Dear Martin with me to read while I waited. I was picked up, however, and didn't finish the book until last night (the car is okay). The northeast is currently an ice bucket of crazy winds and subarctic temperatures; it was perfect to settle down last night for reading Nic Stone's debut novel. I'm all applause and, like Justyce and Jared, looking to Manny in hopes our hearts will rejoice.