[2] Stone began writing the book after a series of racially-charged events, including the 2012 murder of Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old who was killed by a man who shot several rounds into a car of teenagers over a dispute about loud rap music, and the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown.

[3] Stone sold her book as a proposal, resulting in her writing and researching simultaneously over an eight-week period to develop a draft.

It also marks the beginning of his personal project of writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a method he hopes will help him navigate and understand the challenges he faces.

At Braselton Preparatory Academy, an elite and predominantly white school, Justyce experiences numerous microaggressions from his peers.

The novel's tension escalates through a series of classroom debates in Mr. Rivers’ Societal Evolution class, where issues of race and privilege are frequently discussed.

His relationship with SJ becomes particularly significant, providing a source of comfort and understanding as he navigates his grief and the public scrutiny surrounding the case.

His final letter to Dr. King reflects a matured perspective, acknowledging the complexities of the struggle for racial justice while expressing a determined hope for the future.

In February 2020, two years after it was first published, Dear Martin again hit the New York Times bestseller list, as the #1 Young Adult Paperback.