In the compelling final installment in the Dear Martin trilogy, Dear Manny, bestselling author Nic Stone features Jared Peter Christensen, a white, entitled character first introduced in Dear Martin. Here, Stone focuses on the college student's personal growth as he grapples with his privilege while running for junior class president.
It's two years after Jared's Black best friend, Manny Rivers, was murdered by an off-duty cop and Jared, now a college student, actively works to be an ally. He is running for Junior Class Council president against John Preston LePlante IV, a student Jared is certain he can beat, as the young man represents the worst of everyone. When a Black transfer student, Dylan Marie Coleman, joins the race and presents a strong platform, Jared is forced to reevaluate his stance. The young man struggles to decide what's "right," and reaches out to friend Justyce (the protagonist of Dear Martin) for advice. Justyce valued the experience of writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and suggests Jared try something similar. The young man begins to write out his feelings about Dylan and the election in letters to his missing best friend.
As she did in Dear Martin and Dear Justyce, Stone develops a sophisticated, introspective narrative told in first-person letters and third-person narration. But unlike the first two installments, here she writes through the lens of a privileged white young man. Stone doesn't shy away from discussing race, unearned privilege, or the mental toil that Jared feels as he self-reflects. Stone invites readers to sit with the discomfort and consider how societal systems of power affect us all, while also offering readers hope for future changes. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer