The 57 Bus

Written by Dashka Slater

A bus ride turns tragic, intertwining two teens' lives in a complex tale of justice and identity.

4.1/5 Goodreads · 45,473 ratings

320 pages· 47,344 words· Est. 4.5 hour read

$19.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

In Oakland, two teens' lives collide on the 57 bus. Sasha, an agender teen, is set on fire by Richard, a fellow student. This reckless act thrusts them into a legal and moral spotlight, challenging perceptions of justice and identity. As the world watches, the lines between victim and perpetrator blur, revealing a deeper, more heartbreaking story. Can understanding emerge from tragedy?

From the publisher

A NEW YORK TIMES BestsellerStonewall Book Award Winner A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the 21st Century (So Far) The riveting New York Times bestseller and Stonewall Book Award winner that will make you rethink all you know about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment. Artfully, compassionately, and expertly told, Dashka Slater’s The 57 Bus is a must-read nonfiction book that chronicles the true story of an agender teen who was set on fire by another teen while riding a bus in Oakland, California. Two ends of the same line. Two sides of the same crime. 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 economically challenged 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. But in The 57 Bus, award-winning journalist Dashka Slater shows that what might at first seem like a simple matter of right and wrong, justice and injustice, victim and criminal, is something more complicated–and far more heartbreaking. More Accolades and Awards for The 57 Bus: A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All TimeYALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults FinalistA Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book WinnerA Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist Don’t miss Dashka Slater’s newest propulsive and thought-provoking nonfiction book, Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed, the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner which National Book Award winner Ibram X. Kendi hails as “powerful, timely, and delicately written.”