The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime that Changed Their Lives (2017)

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

• Genre: Nonfiction; young adult true crime/social justice
• Originally Published: 2017
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 930L; grades 7-12
• Structure/Length: 4 parts; approx. 320 pages; approx. 5 hours, 48 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: An encounter in 2013 between two teens on a city bus leaves one severely burned and the other facing life in prison. This true story touches on themes regarding race, background, economic and social inequality, and differences in educational settings. It also explores the role of the justice system and the media in the teens’ stories.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racism; classicism; gender and identity; violence

Dashka Slater, Author

• Bio: Grew up in Cambridge, MA but moved to Oakland, CA as an adult; journalist for The New York Times and other publications; writer of picture books, middle grade fantasy, and young adult nonfiction; recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts
• Other Works: Picture books Escargot (2017) and The Antlered Ship (2017); The Book of Fatal Errors, first in the Feylawn Chronicles series (2020); Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed (2023)
• Awards: School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2017); YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist (2018); ALA Stonewall Book Award Winner (2018); Horn Book Honor Book Award for Nonfiction (2018)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Importance of Gender Identity
• The Role of the Reporter in Narrative Nonfiction
• Racism and Bias in the American Criminal Justice System
• The Impact of Social and Economic Inequality on People and Community Relationships
• Changing Social and Cultural Mores

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the social and historical contexts that result in biases in the American criminal justice system against those with non-conforming gender identity and/or people of color similar to those experienced by the key figures.
• Study short paired texts and other resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Racism and Bias in the American Criminal Justice System and The Impact of Social and Economic Inequality on People and Community Relationships.
• Plan, design, and construct a presentation that celebrates and honors a marginalized individual with a non-conforming gender identity; use a mixed media narrative style modeled on The 57 Bus.
• Examine and appraise the author’s structure of the book and the types of texts presented in the telling of the events to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding The Role of the Reporter in Narrative Nonfiction, Changing Social and Cultural Mores, and other topics.