New books for teens’ piles

Is your teenager looking for some great new reading? Here are a few standout choices.

■ “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You,” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Reynolds, the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, distills Kendi’s National Book Award-winning adult book, “Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” for teen readers. But this isn’t just a rewrite. Instead, Reynolds uses his considerable literary skills to create a book that will deeply resonate with teens who will find lots to think about and discuss.

■ “Clap When You Land,” by Elizabeth Acevedo

Acevedo tells the story of two teen sisters who have no idea the other exists until their father dies and his secret — having two families, one in New York, the other in the Dominican Republic — is exposed. Using the novel-in-verse style that she employed so brilliantly in her National Book Award-winning “The Poet X,” Acevedo shows how the sisters discover that they have much in common, despite their very different homes and upbringing.

■ “Kent State,” by Deborah Wiles Wiles uses an unusual format of multiple viewpoints to relate the terrible events of May 4, 1970, when four Kent State University students were killed by National Guardsmen during a campus protest of the Vietnam War. Well-researched and riveting, “Kent State” will speak to teens today who are working for social justice.