Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

YALSA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION WINNERCalifornia Book Award WinnerJ. Anthony Lukas Book Prize WinnerFrom the New York Times-bestselling author of The 57 Bus comes Accountable, a propulsive and thought-provoking true story about the revelation of a racist social media account that changes everything for a group of high school students and begs the question: What does it mean to be held accountable for harm that takes place behind a screen?“Powerful, timely, and delicately written.” —Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times–bestselling and National Book Award-winning authorWhen a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew.Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults—educators and parents—whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse.In the end, no one was laughing. And everyone was left asking: Where does accountability end for online speech that harms? And what does accountability even mean?Award-winning and New York Times–bestselling author Dashka Slater has written a must-read book for our era that explores the real-world consequences of online choices.More Awards and Accolades for Accountable:Russell Freedman Award WinnerNorthern California Book Award WinnerCALIBA's Golden Poppy Book Award WinnerAn Evergreen Teen Book Award High School NomineeA SCBWI Golden Kite Honor for Nonfiction Text for Older ReadersAn Illinois Lincoln Readers' Choice Award NomineeA Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award High School Category NomineeA Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award NomineeA Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award NomineeA Vermont Green Mountain Book Award NomineeA Texas Topaz Reading List SelectionA Texas Library Association TAYSHAS Top Ten BookA Florida Teens Read List SelectionA Missouri Association of School Librarians Dogwood Reading List Selection Read more