On February 22, the author of Dear Martin, Nic Stone, will be joining the AVID 10 book club meetings to discuss Stones best selling novel . There will be two meetings: one at 8:30AM and another during Spartan Time.

Stone is a new author on the scene and is receiving a lot of attention on social media from fans all over and even Battle students for her novel Dear Martin. Dear Martin is about a young boy named Justyce who one afternoon gets targeted by local police and taken into police custody. The novel continues to delve into Justyce’s struggle with discrimination and his effort to be more like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The novel is fairly similar regarding the theme of the content to a piece previously discussed in the AVID 10 book club, The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. Thomas gave a review of Dear Martin saying the book was, “Absolutely incredible, honest, gut-wrenching.” This goes along with one of the main focuses of project lit; social justice.The club also focuses on social justice, as can be seen in their book selection. Their previous book, The Hate You Give, Dear Martin, and their upcoming book Alan Gratz, Refugee all focus on promoting social justice and showing inequalities in the modern world. The group is hoping for large involvement from the community but also from people who play large roles in Columbia Public Schools such as superintendent, Dr. Stiepleman.

Stone’s visit will impact the community of Columbia beyond campus. l. One of the goals of the AVID 10 book club is to promote literacy; the hope is to start with Battle and move to a city wide movement.

Lynn Hagen, the book club sponsor and AVID 10 teacher, mentions a hope for not only academic influence but a social influence as well. Hagen said, “Our hope is that Project Lit Battle book clubs will encourage more students to read, will increase students’ awareness of social justice issues impacting our world, and will increase communication between BHS students and community members as we talk about really good young adult literature.”

Another main focus of Project Lit is promoting literacy. Imani Mitchell, an AVID reader, said, “It helps you work on vocabulary so you can have a better understanding and be able to better interpret stories and literature.” Mitchell also mentioned Stone’s visit will bring a lot of people together.

The club also focuses on social justice, as can be seen in their book selection. Their previous book, The Hate You Give, Dear Martin, and their upcoming book Alan Gratz, Refugee all focus on promoting social justice and showing inequalities in the modern world. The group is hoping for large involvement from the community but also from people who play large roles in Columbia Public Schools such as superintendent, Dr. Stiepleman.

Hagen also mentions her AVID students are gearing up for Stone’s visit by preparing questions for the author. Hagen said, “Our excitement is through the roof , we are so excited the kids can’t wait to meet her, and I am so excited about all the reading and conversations dear martin has generated among students and teachers. Nic is so much fun, so we are very excited!”

Overall Stone’s upcoming visit is leaving the AVID 10 book club in anticipation but the Battle community as a whole.There will be book signings throughout the day and books and commemorative t shirts will be available for purchase for $10.