All American Boys does an excellent job of exposing the minds of two boys - Rashad, a black boy whose unwarranted beating from a cop thrusts him into the spotlight of anger and protest, and Quinn, a white boy who witnesses the beating and has to rethink his whole way of thinking about race and what is right. My favorite message from the book was that these events often leave people on both sides feeling sad, scared, and confused, and that it is okay to feel all these things - as long as you are willing to participate in the discussion and not ignore it. 
 This is a great book to recommend to teens but adults can learn a lot from it as well.