Oakmont School-Wide Literacy
Summer 2024
This summer, Oakmont students and staff have a CHOICE for their required literacy assignment.
All students will:
REQUIRED: Read ONE (1) of the 2 nonfiction books listed below addressing themes of justice and accountability.
REQUIRED: Complete a 10-question QUIZ on the book you select. (This is due by August 29, 2024 and will be your first English quiz grade whether you have the course 1st or 2nd semester)
OPTIONAL: Want to start the year off with extra credit? Complete one of the four (4) optional assignments to earn an extra credit voucher that will be good in any of your classes during the first semester.
Summer Literacy Day: Meet Dashka Slater! On Wednesday, October 2, 2024, the renowned journalist and award-winning author, Dashka Slater, will visit Oakmont Regional High School to discuss her books.
Ready to start? Click on the cover for the book you have selected to read:
by Dashka Slater
NONFICTION
One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.
If it weren’t for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one.
Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight.
Dashka Slater's The 57 Bus, a riveting nonfiction book for teens about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment, tells the true story of an agender teen who was set on fire by another teen while riding a bus in Oakland, California.
NOTE: Contains strong language.
NOTE: Also available as an audiobook. Either version is acceptable.
by Dashka Slater
NONFICTION
Not funny.
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.
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 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?
NOTE: Contains strong language.
NOTE: Also available as an audiobook. Either version is acceptable.