The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

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.

A New York Times Bestseller
Stonewall Book Award Winner--Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist

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.

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 10/17/2017
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.9lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780374303235
Age: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.5
Point Value: 8
Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus
Quiz #/Name: 192475 / 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives


Award: Stonewall Book Award - Winner
Award: Yalsa Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults - Finalist


Review Citation(s):
School Library Journal 07/01/2017 pg. 109
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2017 pg. 177
Publishers Weekly 08/14/2017
Booklist 09/15/2017 pg. 44
Voice of Youth Advocates 10/01/2017 - Recommended - Readable
BookPage 11/01/2017
Shelf Awareness 11/10/2017
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 11/01/2017
Shelf Awareness 12/19/2017
Horn Book Magazine 01/01/2018 pg. 106
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2018 pg. 177 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author
Dashka Slater is the New York Times-bestselling author of The 57 Bus, which won the Stonewall Book Award and was a YALSA nonfiction finalist. Her fiction includes The Book of Fatal Errors, the picture book Escargot, which won the Wanda Gag Book Award; Baby Shoes; The Antlered Ship, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection and received four starred reviews; and Dangerously Ever After. She is also an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, The New York Times Magazine, and Mother Jones. She lives in Californi