Dear Martin

Actor Graham delivers a resonant performance of Stone’s debut YA novel, which explores the experiences of a black student in a predominantly white high school. Like other teens, Justyce is trying to understand who he is in an age of social media and social inequality. As one of a few African-Americans in an elite high school, he is already familiar with issues of race that permeate education, but an unprovoked run-in with the cops brings home just how different Justyce’s experiences are from those of his friends. Stone skillfully weaves recent events and statistics of the violence inflicted upon black men and boys by the police in the novel, which Graham underscores with subtle hints of emotion, emphasizing how teenage people of color must navigate a fundamentally different set of rules than white teenagers. But the highlight of the audiobook is the in the way Graham captures Justyce’s frustration and pain in a series of letters that he wrote to his historical role model, Martin Luther King Jr. Together, Stone and Graham deliver an intimate and raw audiobook that will linger in listeners’ minds. Ages 14–up. A Crown hardcover. (Nov.)