From the cover:
"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."
As you can probably tell from that description, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater is not a light read. It's a book I think everyone should pick up, though, because holy shit, will it make you think.
The book starts off with the bare facts. Sasha, an agender teen wearing a white skirt, was sleeping on the 57 bus when Richard took out a lighter and lit their skirt on fire. Pretty cut and dry, right? The bus had video cameras...there isn't much ambiguity in a case where one teenager is caught on film lighting another on fire. Until you get into the details, that is. Is Richard really what he was painted to be--a bigoted, homophobic teenager who deserved to be charged as an adult for multiple hate crimes? Or was there more to this horrible act than meets the eye? The 57 Bus will challenge your assumptions and your opinions regarding the justice system in the United States. It will make you think about how we handle young people who commit crimes. And it should.
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