“Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You,” by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. Little, Brown and Co. 320 pages. $18.99

” ‘Stamped, Racism, Antiracism, and You’ is a new history of racist ideas written for youth by Jason Reynolds. It is a remix of Ibram X. Kendi’s ‘Stamped from the Beginning.’ Either Kendi’s tome for adults, or the shorter, hip version by Reynolds is now on the bedside tables of hundreds of youth and adults in Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, including mine. History teacher Greg Smith raised funds this summer to buy 800 copies of ‘Stamped’ to offer to every student at Kennebunk High School. Teachers, administrators and some community members are also reading these books. Reeling from recent violence against Blacks, protests and racial incidents in my own community, I am grateful to Smith for giving us a common read, making the ‘R-word’ something we can talk about. I am learning a lot about the topic while enjoying Reynolds’s straight-forward  language and humor: ‘We might as well just jump in and begin with the world’s first racist,’ he writes. ‘Well, he’s dead. Been dead for six hundred years. Thankfully.’ Read it!” — VICKI ADAMS, KENNEBUNK