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rosalyn's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I didn't know anything about this when I started reading. Overall, I think it's an interesting book. As with any book tackling racism or accountability, this is very complex. From the beginning, I was afraid the author would spend more time on the white students than the Black girls that were affected by the account. I was right. I think it can make you question what accountability really means. However. I can see this book being used to justify white people that lack accountability.
refinnej28's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This book really makes you think and question whether you are inadvertently adding to the problem.
kelleemoye's review against another edition
4.0
Whoa. So much to unpack in this book, from the lack of regret for blatant racism, the mishandling of the situation by all adults, the long term effects of racism, and the consequences of this one terrible social media account. Whoa. Highly recommended.
bayleaff's review against another edition
3.5
Certainly a story worth telling, but maybe it didn't need to be soooo long. Ultimately, I think the book has the potential to inspire a lot of really important self-reflection in teen readers, and that kind of introspection can be invaluable. I loved how short the chapters were in terms of readability, and the poems will probably make the book for some readers. The best part of the book for me was when the author went into defining racism and disputing "scientific" racism, because that is important context for all readers to have when discussing issues surrounding race-based bullying and stereotypes. I feel like even more science and data would have been welcome. By the time I reached the end of this book, it felt like a disproportionate amount of time was spent trying to get inside the heads of the perpetrators of the racist Instagram account. It is valuable to understand that they were not evil, cartoonish monsters intentionally trying to traumatize people, but they ended up feeling like more realized "characters" in this account than the people who were targeted by the Instagram posts, and that didn't feel like a fair or effective choice. Not perfect, but still recommended nonfiction for teens.