The 57 Bus - by Dashka Slater (Hardcover)

About the Book

This riveting book 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.

Book Synopsis

A NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller

Stonewall 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 Time
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book Winner
A 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."

Review Quotes

A New York Time Bestseller
Stonewall Book Award--Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature Award Winner
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book
A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the 21st Century (So Far)
A Velshi Banned Books Club Selection
A TAYSHAS Reading List Selection
School Library Journal Best LGBTQIA+ Book
A Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Selection
An Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Award Nominee
A James Cook Honor Book for Diversity in Teen Literature
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Top Ten Book for Teens
California Library Association's Beatty Award Winner
An ILA Notable Book for a Global Society
An OLA Sequoyah Book Award Winner
A Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award Nominee
A Florida Teens Read Book List Selection
Green Mountain Book Award Winner
A Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee
Book Riot The Best Books of the Century So Far

"A sensitive study of an incident wrapped up in so many modern conundrums." --The Financial Times

★ "The text shifts from straightforward reporting to lyrical meditations, never veering into oversentimentality or simple platitudes. Readers are bound to come away with deep empathy for both Sasha and Richard. VERDICT Slater artfully unfolds a complex and layered tale about two teens whose lives intersect with painful consequences." --School Library Journal, starred review

★ "With a journalist's eye for overlooked details, Slater does a masterful job debunking the myths of the hate-crime monster and the African-American thug, probing the line between adolescent stupidity and irredeemable depravity. Few readers will traverse this exploration of gender identity, adolescent crime, and penal racism without having a few assumptions challenged. An outstanding book that links the diversity of creed and the impact of impulsive actions to themes of tolerance and forgiveness." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ "Using details gleaned from interviews, social media, surveillance video, public records, and other sources, Slater skillfully conveys the complexities of both young people's lives and the courage and compassion of their families, friends, and advocates, while exploring the challenges and moral ambiguities of the criminal justice system. This painful story illuminates, cautions, and inspires." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "[A] multi-layered lesson on the healing power of humanity." --Shelf Awareness, starred review

"It is likely that this account will spark conversations, debates, and contemplation, perhaps leading readers to define for themselves what justice means." --VOYA

"A powerful story of class and race (Sasha is white), gender and identity, justice and mercy, love and hate. Slater has crafted a compelling true-crime story with ramifications for our most vulnerable youth." --The Horn Book

"This book challenged my views and it started a conversation in my house that I thought I'd never have. We all changed, at least in my house, because of this book." --Kate Terbush, Burbank Leader

"Slater approaches both students' perspectives with nuance and complexity, and while there are no easy answers in this narrative, her compassionate writing shows that there's often more to the story than we see." --TIME Magazine

"A thought-provoking tale of class, race, gender, morality and forgiveness . . . 'The 57 Bus' will leave you with a hole in your heart and tears running down your cheeks. For a book about a horrible crime, the amount of love is remarkable." --The Daily Californian

"The 57 Bus is a unicorn true crime book because nonfiction YA doesn't get the same amount of space and attention as YA fiction. The book is a compassionate--rather than sensationalized--look at the juvenile system, adolescence, race, and gender." --Book Riot

About the Author

Award-winning journalist Dashka Slater has written for such publications as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Salon, and Mother Jones. Her New York Times-bestselling young-adult true crime narrative, The 57 Bus, has received numerous accolades, including the Stonewall Book Award, the California Book Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. It was a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist and an LA Times Book Award Finalist, in addition to receiving four starred reviews and being named to more than 20 separate lists of the year's best books, including ones compiled by The Washington Post, the New York Public Library, and School Library Journal. In 2021, The 57 Bus was named to TIME magazine's list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. The author of fifteen books of fiction and nonfiction for children and adults, Dashka teaches in Hamline University's MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She lives and writes in Oakland, California.