Slater, D. (2017). The
57 Bus: A true story of two teenagers and the crime that changed their lives. NY:
Farrar Straus Giroux
Sasha is a white agender teenager who attends a private
school, and Richard is an African American teenager who attends public school
in a poor neighborhood. This true story
is of these two teenagers and the crime that would change both of their lives
forever. In 2013 in Oakland, California,
Richard and Sasha were both on the 57 bus when Richard lit Sasha’s skirt on
fire as she was sleeping on the bus. The
book gives readers a closer look at both teens and events that led up to the
incident, the actual event, and events afterward. Readers will learn Sasha is agender, was born
a boy, but does not associate with one gender.
Sasha prefers the pronoun “they”.
Richard had been sentenced to a group home before this incident for
being a part of a group fight. Richard
has lost numerous loved ones to murder.
He sees Sasha on the bus sleeping, and prompted by his friends, uses a
lighter to light Sasha’s skirt on fire.
Sasha instantly is set into flames.
Richard and his friends exit the bus, and a couple of strangers on the
bus rush to Sasha’s aid to put the flames out.
Sasha undergoes multiple surgeries for their third degree burns from
calves the thighs. Richard was arrested
at school the next day and was charged with two hate crimes and faced with
being tried as an adult. Dashka Slater
used well researched material for this text.
The book includes short chapters, poetry, lists, social media
information, text messages, and letters.
Richard wrote letters of apology to Sasha, explaining he never meant to
hurt anyone. At Richard’s sentencing,
Sasha’s parents spoke to Richard, saying they hope he is able to learn from
this terrible act. They did not get his
letters of apology until fourteen months later and wished they had read them
before they spoke. At Richard’s progress
trial, Sasha’s parents give a heart melting speech of forgiveness and hope for
Richard. They ask the judge to not allow
Richard to be judged as an adult.
Richard has done his part while in jail, and the judge shortens his
sentence and allows him to stay in the juvenile facility.
Not only is this novel well written with multiple types of
text and formats, the information was well researched. The Author’s Note describes the sources used
to create this novel. I appreciated the
way Richard was portrayed in the novel.
He was not a hateful person trying to harm anyone, he made a poor choice
and is living the consequences of his decisions. The author did not victimize him for what he
did either. The chapters describing the
incident was eye opening. Many people ran
from Sasha and tried to exit the bus, only a couple of people helped
Sasha. “The man with the mustache” was in
awe of what happened, he could not believe what he witnessed. Readers will learn to be mindful of your
actions, to have empathy to others, and to think about how your actions with
affect others.
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