The 57 Bus
At one point in time I had 3 physical copies of The 57 Bus by D. Slater in my house, because this book is wonderful enough for me to take out both the hardcover and the audio book, and then still buy my own copy. I'm not a huge nonfiction fan, but wow. wow. wow.
The 57 Bus is the true story of an event that occurred in 2013. As they slept on a bus, Sasha, an agender teen's skirt was lit on fire by Richard, a black teenage boy. Richard was tried as an adult, charged with two hate crimes, and was facing possible life imprisonment. Sasha was hospitalized for 3rd degree burns all over their lower body.
Slater tells this story through poetry, social media posts, text messages, and also a lot of that style of writing that's in newspapers, but I don't remember the name of. The writing switches up enough to keep my very easily distracted brain fully engaged. Y'all know I'm obsessed with short chapters.
It does a beautiful job of showing that there's more to the story than a victim and a villain. When this event was happening, the media portrayed Richard as the villain, and while it could have been easy for Slater to do the same, she doesn't. She also does a fantastic job of representing gender identity, and this book leaves you walking away with empathy for both Sasha and Richard.
The 57 Bus is incredibly eye opening and beautifully written and emotional and just SO AMAZING, I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT WORDS. If you haven't read it yet, make it a priority. (Looking at you, Sylvia. I think you'd love this one.) And then, after you've read it, send me a super opinionated email with all of your thoughts.
The 57 Bus is the true story of an event that occurred in 2013. As they slept on a bus, Sasha, an agender teen's skirt was lit on fire by Richard, a black teenage boy. Richard was tried as an adult, charged with two hate crimes, and was facing possible life imprisonment. Sasha was hospitalized for 3rd degree burns all over their lower body.
Slater tells this story through poetry, social media posts, text messages, and also a lot of that style of writing that's in newspapers, but I don't remember the name of. The writing switches up enough to keep my very easily distracted brain fully engaged. Y'all know I'm obsessed with short chapters.
It does a beautiful job of showing that there's more to the story than a victim and a villain. When this event was happening, the media portrayed Richard as the villain, and while it could have been easy for Slater to do the same, she doesn't. She also does a fantastic job of representing gender identity, and this book leaves you walking away with empathy for both Sasha and Richard.
The 57 Bus is incredibly eye opening and beautifully written and emotional and just SO AMAZING, I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT WORDS. If you haven't read it yet, make it a priority. (Looking at you, Sylvia. I think you'd love this one.) And then, after you've read it, send me a super opinionated email with all of your thoughts.
Comments
Post a Comment