I've enjoyed Nic Stone's books and have all of them in our HS school library, so I was excited to read this ARC of #DearManny. This final installment of the Dear Martin trilogy doesn't require you to have read the previous two books--and it's been a while since I have read them both--but it is helpful if they are more fresh in your head to get the full effect and understand all of the references. This story follows Jared, a white boy from the previous books, who is now in college and roommates with Justyce. He is running for student class president and wrestling with the things he has learned over the past few years about race and privilege; however, through the course of this election, and his experiences with Dylan, a black student who is also running for office, Jared continues to demonstrate that he still has work to do as he makes mistakes and harms others and himself. Stone, in the Author's Note, explains how she took on this "third-person" perspective of a white boy to explore him as a character, but also to challenge the book bans of her book and others and to cause others to reflect. An important book for an important time, as always. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for the ARC.

Dear Manny is yet another masterpiece by Nic Stone. Jared, who we met in Dear Martin and Dear Justyce, has grown tremendously from the entitled piece of work who first graced the pages. Now, as a well-intentioned ally- he has to face down the reality of his privilege as he runs for junior-class president of his college. Against a boy who he knows represents the worst of everyone and a girl who deserves to win but likely cannot. As he struggles to make the "right" decisions, Jared continuously struggles to be the good person he wants to be when the other path would be so much more comfortable. Jared, upon a suggestion from Justyce, begins to write letters to his deceased best friend Manny as he works through his feelings about everything happening around him.
Nic Stone is an incredible story teller and builds in the reader a combination of empathy and disgust, often both for the same character, that carries you through the end- hoping that everything will end in a way that satisfies. Oh, and don't forget those heart-wrenching moments she oh-so-skillfully weaves in perfectly.

I am torn about the writing of Jared's story- a flawed character who is growing and learning- as we hope all people will. But as the publication of this book approaches and Stone posts on social media "When they ban your stories about Black boys... so you send the same message through a white boy"- it reinforces how many people are not growing and learning. I appreciate Jared's story and loved reading it. But we shouldn't need it. We shouldn't be struggling through book challenges and bans and moving backward in our universal understanding of race, bias, prejudice, and everything carried along with them. Don't take that to mean this book isn't of the highest quality- because it is. Instead, think about what you can do to support authors like Stone and the messages we, and all the young readers, very much need through the point of view of Black boys and girls.