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  • Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater book cover
  • Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater book cover
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Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

by Dashka Slater

Online harm and the meaning of accountability

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Online harm and the meaning of accountability

Set in Albany, California, Accountable examines the fallout after a high school student’s private Instagram account, built around racist and sexist memes, comes to light. The harm reaches beyond the students targeted by the posts: the account’s creator, its followers, parents, and educators are all caught up in the consequences. Dashka Slater’s nonfiction account centers questions that extend beyond this one school community: how should people be held responsible for harmful speech online, and what does accountability involve when that harm moves from a screen into everyday life?

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in nonfiction about prejudice and racism.
  • Readers exploring social media, online speech, and its effects on school communities.
  • Those interested in questions of responsibility and responses to harm.

Themes

Racism and sexismOnline speech and real-world consequencesAccountabilitySchool communities and conflict

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview


YALSA Gold Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner
California Book Award Winner
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize Winner
SCBWI Golden Kite Honor Award Winner
SCBWI Russell Freedman Nonfiction for A Better World Award Winner
CALIBA Golden Poppy Book Award Winner
Nerdy Book Club Award for Best Longform Nonfiction Winner
Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Selection
Project Lit Selection
BCCB Best Book of the Year
Book We Can't Stop Thinking About from Mother Jones Magazine
Booklist Editors' Choice
SLJ Best Young Adult Book of the Year
TAYSHAS Top Ten
Best of the Best Book from Chicago Public Library
Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2023
One of Common Sense Media's Top 5 Books of 2023
One of Crime Reads' Best Young Adult Mysteries, Thriller and Horror Novels of 2023
One of Groton Public Library's Best Nonfiction Books of 2023
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Amazon Best Book of the Month
Four Starred Reviews
Kirkus 10 Summer Page-Turners For Teens
WeAreTeachers 18 Best Books About Social Media

From 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 author

When 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 Winner
Northern California Book Award Winner
CALIBA's Golden Poppy Book Award Winner
An Evergreen Teen Book Award High School Nominee
A SCBWI Golden Kite Honor for Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
An Illinois Lincoln Readers' Choice Award Nominee
A Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award High School Category Nominee
A Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Nominee
A Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Award Nominee
A Vermont Green Mountain Book Award Nominee
A Texas Topaz Reading List Selection
A Texas Library Association TAYSHAS Top Ten Book
A Florida Teens Read List Selection
A Missouri Association of School Librarians Dogwood Reading List Selection

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