Querido Justyce

Gr 8 Up–Stone’s sequel to Querido Martin, the Spanish-language edition of Dear Martin, is an epistolary tale that weaves plot and poetry through the reminisces of two childhood friends. Quan and Justyce (the protagonist of Querido Martin) met at a time when a playground rocket ship provided sanctuary from their respective families. Now young men, both are navigating adulthood solo: Quan is in jail, and Justyce is in law school at Yale. Each gives the other an opportunity to relinquish past influences that have weighed them down when Justyce teams up with fellow law students, while Quan regroups with the help of his therapist and her street-smart intern. Teens will root for the main characters and their allies as they seek to overturn a false confession that linked Quan to a crime he did not commit. Quan’s case will test a friendship as he and Justyce peel back the layers of fear and doubt that brought them together. Both will learn that their histories do not define them; by book’s end, they will flesh out new trajectories and be welcomed into communities of their own choosing. Stone’s book poignantly elucidates the injustices that plague many young Black men. The protagonists are well developed, and Stone distinguishes their voices through lyrical, spare language and the letters they write to each other.