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The 57 bus details the lives of Sasha and Richard- two very different teenagers from Oakland who do not have much in common except that they take the same bus home from school each day. One day, Richard plays a dangerous prank on Sasha while they are asleep on the bus, and this decision alters both of their lives forever.
The author, Dashka Slater,  discusses LGBTQ+ issues, as well as issues of race and the criminal justice system in this true story.

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Sasha was born male (their name used to be Luke), but identifies as agender, meaning that they do not feel male or female. They love nerdy things, spending time online, and hanging out with their friends. They also have autism, which makes them hyper-focused on things they enjoy.

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Richard has siblings, a mom, and a step dad. His mom had him when she was very young, and worked hard to give him a good life. He's gotten in trouble with the law before, and spent a year in a group home after being sent to juvie. Before he had his encounter with Sasha, he was working hard to bring up his grades and get into college.

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Dashka Slater discusses the time when Sasha first started to realize that they did not fit into the typical categories of "male" or "female." Sasha was unsure if people in their life would understand, but they felt relieved when their friends and family accepted them and made the effort to use their preferred pronouns ("they" and "them").

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Sasha's parents were very supportive when Sasha came out. But their mother and father worried about them being bullied or treated differently because of their appearance. Their worst fears came true when Richard burned Sasha on the bus that day.

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Richard struggles many times throughout the book because he wants to do well in school and make himself, his mentor, and his mother proud. However, he enjoys goofing around with his friends and he can be easily influenced to make bad decisions, like skipping school. After his prank goes terribly wrong and he burns Sasha on the bus, he feels incredibly guilty and struggles with whether he should tell someone what he did.

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One of the big external conflicts in the story is between Sasha and the outside world. Both Sasha and their parents worry about Sasha being safe and accepted. One of the reasons that Sasha was targeted by Richard's friends is because they looked different than other people.

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Richard's punishment after he burns Sasha is very controversial. He is a minor when he commits the crime, but he gets charged as an adult. And many of the details surrounding the case, such as his guilt about what he had done and the fact that the act was very impulsive, do not get told until after he is sentenced.

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Overall, Sasha's internal and external conflicts get resolved. They recover well from their burns, go off to college, and continue to live life as the best version of themselves. They and their parents are not portrayed as feeling any anger or bitterness toward Richard or his family.

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In some ways, Richard going to prison does get him to remember his priorities. He continues his education inside and he stays out of trouble, which is not an easy thing to do in prison. Despite the fact that he gets a reduced sentence due to good behavior, the reader is left feeling very unsatisfied about Richard's outcomes. There is a sense that the punishment did not feel suited to his crime or his circumstances.

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Oakland, California

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For Sasha, neither their body, nor the gender their parents chose to identify them as, nor society's expectations surrounding gender, defined their identity. Instead, it was the way they chose to label how they saw themself- as agender, rather than male or female. Sasha explains, "For me at least, genderqueer includes an aspect of questioning,” Sasha explains. “The fact that I was questioning my gender meant that I was genderqueer" (Slater, 97). Sasha's questioning of their gender and their subsequent decision to accept that questioning as a part of themself was an important part in piecing together their identity.

For Richard, his actions would define him. The bad choices he made in his youth, as well as the choices he made later to try and be a better person, shaped who he became. He always tried to live his life by the motto of his mentor from school: "On her walls she’d posted the family slogan: Never let your obstacles become more important than your goal. The goals: go to class, get your grades up, graduate, stay out of jail, survive" (Slater, 60). It took a lot of mistakes for Richard to finally stop letting his obstacles get in his way. Despite being in jail, he continued to improve upon himself.

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I would recommend this book for a reader who likes true stories and is interested in learning about diverse experiences.

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I would recommend this book for a reader who likes true stories and is interested in learning about diverse experiences.