YALSA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION WINNER
California Book Award Winner
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize Winner
From the New York Times-bestselling author of The 57 Bus comes able, a propulsive and thought-provoking true story about the revelation of a racist social media that changes everything for a group of high school students and begs the question: What does it mean to be held able 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 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 . Pretty soon, everyone knew.
Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the 's discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the . 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 ability end for online speech that harms? And what does ability 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 able:
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