From the author of THE 57 BUS comes another timely, thoughtful, and well-written account of one of the most sensitive issues facing young adults and educators today—racism in schools. ACCOUNTABLE doesn’t shy away from asking hard and necessary questions and offers thought-provoking responses from participants on both sides of the story, bolstered by research about race, bullying, and restorative justice. This is a must-read for any educator. I look forward to adding it to my classroom library.

Wow---what an incredibly powerful book. If I were a high school teacher or parent of a high schooler, I would assign this book as soon as it's published. I don't remember hearing about this story when it first broke, but it's a power testament to how hate can be so easily spread and quickly take over while wrecking so many young lives in the process. It is written in a very easy to read format with short chapters that are perfect for teenagers who are easily distracted. I just can't say enough about what a powerful book this is. Most adults would benefit from reading this too. It's so easy to be a keyboard warrior nowadays and kids especially don't release that what they post even when they think it is private can and does have real world consequences.

Dashka Slater brings her fact-centered, journalist's eye to exploring the impact of a racist social media account on the teens involved. The incident took place at a high school in the San Francisco bay area in 2017. This story shows that not only could this happen anywhere, even "liberal" communities aren't immune. She allows all of the teens, those who participated in the account and those who were targeted by it, to tell their own story. The effects of the actions (or inactions) of the adults involved, from families to school administrators to mediators, are discussed in great detail. Slater gives context to questions of responsibility, accountability and liability and doesn't attempt to flatten out the complexity of the story. This is a must read with good lessons, especially for adults who find themselves helping teens manage - or avoid - similar situations.

Wow. Thoughtful and poignant. I've already ordered a copy for my classroom and I plan to strongly encourage everyone else in my department to do so as well.

Another amazing book from Dashka Slater, author of The 57 Bus. This one is the true story about a high school boy who starts a racist Instagram account and how that affects not only his life, but his friends classmates, school, and town. I read the description to my debate class because they're already arguing about who should get in trouble for "private" social media posts that end up spreading to a wider audience. This was a fast, fascinating read and will be a MUST in my classroom.

This onés going to be a must-buy for my high school and middle school. It' is deeply relatable and timely, and a good read both for the kids who live in their online cultures and for the adults who do not necessarily understand that culture.

Slater is a master at taking a difficult topic and humanizing all sides. In this account of racism in a Albany, New York, there are no winners, just people who make mistakes and deal with the aftermath the best they know how. Such an important book.

Another gripping and engaging true story account of social issues impacting our communities. Thoughtful and insightful prose captivates the reader and immerses us in the emotional and physical consequences of social media.

4.75, rounded up. This book was very comprehensive and powerful. The ideas presented were deeply developed, and care was taken to represent ALL of the feelings and affects for all parties involved. It made me think, moved me to look up information on my own when I was done reading, and challenged some perspectives I previously had. It goes way beyond examining race, and looks at punishment, mob mentality, the power of words, the teenage psyche, and more. It was a little longer than it needed to be, but I appreciated the short bursts as opposed to long chapters. Anyone who engages with this book will be challenged in their thinking.

Great addition to any middle and high school library collection or classroom. The bite-sized chapters will be accessible to young adult readers, especially since the topics covered are difficult. Thought provoking and important.

Dashka Slater's Accountable is a book I will be talking about for a while. This ripped-from-the-headlines story details what happened in a community when a terrible, racist, student-created Instagram account was made public. Through interviews, trial transcripts and transcripts of various meetings, Slater expresses how this event impacted parents and students. Slater is an observer here, and while it is clearly emphasized how wrong and terrible the account was, she leaves it to us, the reader, to observe what happened to this community. I recommend this book entirely, without reservation.

I just finished an ARC of Accountable by Dashka Slater, a YA non-fiction book by the author of The 57 Bus. The tag line is "The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers whose Lives it Changed." Unfortunately this book is not set to be released until August, because I think it is going to be so important. Especially for teens, but also their parents, teachers, etc.

We're in a hard place right now where most criticism of "cancel culture" reads as a defense of bigotry but Slater manages to approach the topic with both critical thinking and emotional sensitivity. The story is engaging and the author extensively interviewed most of those involved, so the thoughts and feelings of the students themselves take center stage.

For teens, putting themselves in the shoes of the people in this situation will help them grapple with difficult but necessary questions: "How do you allow the free exchange of ideas while still respecting the dignity of human beings? Where is the line between expressing an opinion and bullying? Where does tolerance become complicity? When does sensitivity become censorship? And given that there's no universally agreed-upon answer to any of these questions, who gets to decide?"

Author of the acclaimed The 57 Bus, Dashka Slater has produced a powerfully thought-provoking non-fiction narrative: Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed. The story begins in 2017, when a racist Instagram account is started by Charles, a Korean-American high-schooler, presumably in fun, and gains followers. However, when the account is eventually exposed, the ensuing toxicity rocks the town of Albany, California, fracturing long-standing friend groups, traumatizing those who were victimized, and raising the titular question of how the perpetrators – the founder of the account, the commenters, and the passive followers – ought to be disciplined and held accountable for their actions, also how to justly address the harms done to the innocent. While the book has places where the pacing lags, also some confusing sections where it’s unclear whose perspective or story is being relayed, Slater nevertheless presents a cast of care-aboutable, complex adolescents who resist being reduced to clear-cut perpetrators and victims, and also frames this case in its larger social context, where we regularly tussle with questions regarding social media content, privilege, race, hate speech, trauma, and how to deal with crimes committed by juveniles. Rather than judging those involved or seeing them in clear-cut, black and white terms, readers will want to read the characters’ stories, know their histories, and weigh the nuances of this extremely difficult situation. Rendering justice presents a knotty dilemma, and Slater masterfully highlights the difficulties in doing so.

In 2017 a group of teenagers in a small community made an Instagram page, on this page they posted racist memes made using pictures of their friends, or other people in the school. These images were mean, racist and sometimes violent and when the private account was exposed none of their lives would be the same. The lives of the creators, followers and victims of this account would never be the same as their worlds were destroyed and permanently altered. As an educator reading about the choices the school, teachers and district made were difficult to understand but with the new world of social media schools often don’t have policies in place when things like this happen. It will certainly be a book I recommend to other educators as well as students. This author has become one of my favorite non-fiction writers, for both myself and my students, as her narrative nonfiction format with multiple points of view and outside documents reads like a work of fiction or a podcast.

There is so much about this book that’s great, but in my opinion there is also a lot of fluff. I really loved the aspect of reading the perspectives of everyone involved, and it was very clear this author thoroughly researched all sides of this issue. It was very nuanced and unbiased as it shared the thoughts and experiences of people on both sides of this incident, those who created and interacted with the account, and those who were targeted.

Eventually I did get to a point in reading where I felt like there was nothing else that could be said about this incident, but it just kept going. There were such minute details that sometimes were not at all necessary to understand the author’s points. It took so long to get to the resolution of the book that even though this was a very interesting topic, I got bored. There was great scientific information, but it felt clouded by unimportant dialogue and anecdotes.

I liked the idea of the poems and writing pieces in between chapters of information- but it was never made clear if these were creative pieces added by the author, or actual pieces written by the people involved.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Accountable. This story ripped from the headlines could be any school in America, sadly, and it needs to be read by teachers, parents, and admin as well as students. When something like this happens, we search for bad guys to blame and shame to prove to ourselves that we're good people, but the reality isn't so simple. In a story that honors those negatively impacted by the account and their experiences while also being honest about the questions surrounding appropriate consequences for those involved at all levels, Dashka Slater asks readers to explore issues around shame, blame, guilt, consequence, growth, and rehabilitation where there aren't any truly easy answers. Well worth the time for adults who work with teens to catch a glimpse of the inner workings of their minds and for teens themselves to recognize how their choices, no matter how private or innocuous they may seem, can impact their entire futures.

This was a book that will stay with the reader long after reading. It looks at a situation that on the surface seems very cut and dry: a teenage boy created a racist account and shared it with his friends on Instagram. When it was discovered, the logical outcome should be accountability. The author uses investigative reporting to look at the situation from all angles, and includes court documents and interviews with those affected. This was gripping, shame-inducing, and really opens the readers eyes that we are all affected by racism and we have to actively undo the wrongs that society has created and perpetuates today.

I would highly recommend this book for classrooms, teen librarians, and anyone who is an American citizen living today. However, there are a few caveats that did put me off a bit, and I worry that today's teens may not take it as seriously. For one, the author spent some time explaining the culture of Instagram for teens and the social following. This incident occurred in 2018, and as I read it in 2022 it already feels dated because TikTok is much more prevalent in teens' eyes. This book should not be read in a vacuum. If students are reading it, discussions must be taking place, and they should have the opportunity to speak with a trusted adult if topics and discussion become upsetting.