The 57 Bus is about two Oakland teenagers who are trapped in a hate crime incident, which eventually leads to court and other complications. On the other hand, the 57 Bus is also a book openly portraying racism and homophobia among young teens in America. The book consists of sections, switching between the two main characters’, Sasha and Richard’s worlds. Sasha is a non-binary, model sudent, living on the “wealthier” side of Oakland. On the contrary, Richard is a young black teenager who lives on the “poorer” side of the neighborhood, with one goal: to graduate. On what could be considered a “normal day” Richard lights Sasha’s skiort on fire and the story really begins. I believe this book isn’t so much of a fiction fantasy world, but more of a thought-provoking story everyone should have a chance to read. Centered around the worlds of two teens, this is an ideal book everyone should have the chance to read. The book is written around the hate crime, and deals with many controversial topics involving: race, gender identity, and social classes.

The author, Dashka Slater, was trying to bring awareness to a problem in our society. Understanding for teens who have to suffer and go through what Richard and Sasha had to go through. The 57 Bus is the kind of book that makes you sit down and think: does anyone deserve anything? Should Richard go to jail and serve a life sentence for what he did, or does he deserve some understanding and compassion? Throughout the book, lots of character change took place. Richard was overwhelmed in the beginning, and that caused him and his actions to be misled by confusion. However, towards the end, he wasn’t so blinded by confusion, he was led by his determination and his need to do better. Sasha wasn’t driven by anything at the start, like Richard in a way, and near the end they found their meaning, purpose, what they could do. The book was their journey, and not only about the awareness of the social issue but their journey as characters and how they evolved into something better, someone better, a valuable lesson taught to all readers.

As I read this book, I felt empathetic for both Sasha and Richard and what they were going through.I don’t always feel so great, and Sasha and Richard are in tough positions, something all of us can relate to at some point in our lives. As the conflict progressed, character change took place but also theme change; it started by focusing on Sasha, but the book ended by zooming in on Richard and his future, his decision making. All teens should read the 57 Bus, to inform and see for themselves what gender, homophobia, and racism really are, and how they can affect everyone.

The 57 Bus doesn’t just teach you about conflicts and problems in our society, it doesn’t just open your eyes about everything going on in our world, it shows you what those problems are. It shows you what can happen, and what does happen in our world. Undoubtedly, I knew about issues in our society, and knew that it was overly present in our society, but the 57 Bus showed it to me. It showed me a very real situation, which proved to me that it was so real, that it was somewhat normalized in our society. The 57 Bus allowed me to see racism and homophobia directly from the perpetrator and the victim‘s perspective, from Richard and Sasha’s perspective. The incident in this book was a real event, and there are people suffering from similar situations every day. Reading the 57 Bus allows readers to know that this is very real, and that incidents like these happen way too often, while allowing readers to see the issues-racism and homophobia- from different perspectives.