Nic Stone opens up about reader interactions, talks about new projects on the horizon, and more in our exclusive interview!

Nic Stone burst on to the YA book scene just last year with Dear Martin, the powerful story of a young black man named Justyce navigating racial tensions in his nearly all-white prep school by writing letters to Martin Luther King Jr. Every day, Justyce struggles to maintain MLK’s philosophy– but then, the unthinkable happens.

Since Dear Martin, Nic Stone has published her follow-up Odd One Out, all about the messiness of young love, and contributed a short story to the adorable winter romance anthology Snow In Love.

We sat down with Nic at YALLfest, an amazing, free young adult book festival held annually in Charleston, SC– to chat about her books, the reactions to them, and how she crafts a story. She also gave us the details on what’s next for her, including another short story for the Black Enough anthology and a new book. She even told us the title of the next book: Jackpot!

Watch the full video interview at the top of the post!

Check out all of Nic Stone’s books via Amazon or support your local bookstore via Indiebound.