The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives
As seen:
By Dashka Slater
avg rating
2 reviews
Winner of the Stonewall Young Adult Literature Award
One teenager in a skirt. One teenager with a lighter. One moment that changes both their lives forever.
Two teenagers growing up in Oakland, California. One, Sasha, was born male but identifies as agender, wears skirts and attends a private school. The other, Richard, is an African American from a poor part of Oakland who attends a rough public school.
They have no reason to meet, except for eight minutes every day, they catch the same bus home. And one day, messing about, Richard spies Sasha napping. He flicks the flame of his lighter to Sasha’s skirt, and Sasha wakes up in a ball of flame.
What happens next, as the victim, the perpetrator and the community struggle to come to terms with their sadness and shock, is a story of recovery, reconciliation, forgiveness and, above all, hope. It’s about the power of being true to yourself, bravery and the good and bad in all of us.
And, remarkably, it’s all true.
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Inspired by the true story of a crime committed against an agender person on their daily commute, this book weaves together the different accounts from before, during and after the time Richard sets fire to the skirt of a passenger on the 57 bus. It is expertly written and reads like fine journalism or a police report that is compiled of different pieces of evidence. At first, I found the narrative style difficult to read as it was different to the books I usually read, but it was compelling and I wanted to find out what happened next. I would definitely recommend to fans of 'Long Way Down' or 'Playing with Fire' - Y9+
This is a heart-breaking book but also uplifting: the author has retold the story of a crime by telling the story of the two teenagers involved: Sasha, the victim, and Richard, the perpetrator. On the surface, this is a hate crime, but as you find yourself getting to know each person you find yourself sharing their experiences and empathising with them both. Above anything, it's about our shared humanity - but does not shy away from describing the real pain and cruelty faced by whole segments of our society: Trans people, people of colour, poor people, young people.
