Lavin Exclusive Speaker
When we hear someone tell their story, we connect to them in a deep and more meaningful way. Beloved bestselling author Nic Stone says that stories link us together; when we listen to the lives and experiences of people who are different from us, we’ll discover our common ground. Nic’s #1 New York Times bestselling books, including the hit Dear Martin (the story of a modern teenager who writes letters to Martin Luther King Jr.) are real, emotional, and profound. She empowers us to see that our stories matter, and that we can use them to build bridges and leave a positive, vibrant legacy.
Nic Stone has dedicated her life to writing the stories she needed when she was younger—the stories that make us feel seen, represented, and ready to connect with others. She didn’t read about characters who looked like her or who came from her world in her childhood books, and she wanted to bring her own story, and the stories of people like her, to life. She’ll teach you how the stories you read shape the way you see the world and the people in it, reminding us that we all have our own authentic story to share.
Nic says that sharing our stories is vital to doing the essential, necessary work of racial and social justice. If we want to rebuild and heal, making connections and embracing empathy through stories will go a long way: “the more we see Black people living—loving and doing and being and feeling...solving mysteries and being the heroes—the more we recognize our shared humanity.” She is also a fierce advocate for reading freedoms in public education. Having her own work banned in some parts of the country, she champions the rights of readers to pick up any book they choose and for authors to tell their authentic stories without fear of censorship.
She has put her passionate convictions into practice in her award-winning novels, which have been lauded by NPR (her books have appeared twice on NPR’s Best Books of the Year list), The Atlantic, and Publishers Weekly. Nic’s #1 New York Times bestseller Dear Martin was a William C. Morris Award Finalist and was called “an unforgettable tour de force of social justice” by Booklist. The Horn Book has lauded how Nic’s writing—which includes blockbusters Dear Justyce, Odd One Out, Jackpot, and Clean Getaway—“carries the weight of history” as much as it is memorable, beautiful, and captivating.