Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
1. Bibliography
Slater, D. 2017. The 57 Bus. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780374303235
2. Summary
Using real quotes and real names, The 57 Bus tells the true story of Sasha, who is agender (not being labeled to being female or male) who is burned on the 57 bus by a boy named Richard. Sasha, who once went by the name Luke, came from the wealthy side of the 57 bus, and is very confident and outspoken on the fact that they are agender. Their was not afraid to speak up when the wrong name was used and did not believe in being gentrified. Richard, a boy who was known for always “play fighting” and loved to make others laugh, came from the un-wealthy side of the 57 bus. On November 4, 2013, Jamal, Lylod, and Richard saw Sasha as their was sleeping on the 57 bus. Jamal hands Richard a lighter, and Richard catches Sasha's skirt on fire and badly burns their legs. The news of this breaks out and it seen as a hate crime when Richard is arrested and is quoted saying he did this because he was homophobic during an interrogation with an officer. In court, it is unsure if Richard will be charged as a teenager and will be sent to juvenile or if he will be charged as an adult and will be sent to prison. While the court hearings continue, Sasha is recovering from the burns in a hospital. After leaving the hospital, Sasha was able to return to school and still continued to live her life and attended MIT after graduating high school, as their planned to do. Debbie and Karl, Sasha’s parents, write a letter for Richard which Karl read in court that states they forgive Richard for his actions and wish that he be trailed as a teenager and not an adult in hopes that Richard and others will learn from this mistake. A decision is then made to sentence Richard to five years in a juvenile system, and he can be released before his 21st birthday.
3. Discussion
The 57 Bus brought out a lot of emotions as I was reading it, because I couldn’t imagine being Sasha or their parents going through this horrible situation. Even though this was a sad tragedy, the story of The 57 Bus shows a lot of forgiveness and moving forward with one's life no matter the hardship that someone might go through. For this reason, I was not able to put the book down. I was hooked from the beginning and I liked how Slater gave the backstory of both Sasha and Richard so I was able to see the viewpoints and understand each person before reading about the burning incident. In the end, I was glad to see that Sasha was still able to live their life after going through all the hardships that came with being burned.
The audience that I would recommend this book to would have to be high school students. I definitely don't recommend this book to elementary level students and I honestly don’t think middle school students would be mature enough to understand the concept of being genderqueer or nonbinary. These are difficult topics for adults in general, but I think it would be important for high school level students to understand that people choose to live their lives differently. I believe high school level students struggle with popularity and will do anything to fit in, which this book would show them that it is okay to be different and to learn to be accepting.
4. Connections
The topics of hate crime, genderqueer and nonbinary are discussed throughout the book which may make it difficult to read in a school classroom. However, since this is a nonfiction book, I believe that reason alone can save this book from causing any trouble for being available in the library.
I believe it took a lot of courage and understanding for Sasha and their parents to be able to forgive Richard, and in the end, Sasha had a lot of courage to be able to move forward with their life and continue their plan to attend MIT. With this, forgiveness and courage might be great topics to discuss in a high school classroom setting.
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