Waiting On Wednesday [@DashkaSlater @fsgbooks]

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

My pick for this week:

THE 57 BUS: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater

One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.

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 crime-plagued 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.

published October 17th by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)

add to your Goodreads shelf // pre-order from Book Depo // or Amazon

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Why?

I love fictionalizations/novelizations of nonfiction events and I enjoy books told from multiple perspectives. I am intrigued that this book is about a true event, that it involved (and is told by) teenagers, and that the crime was classified as a hate crime. I really look forward to seeing how this story is told, learning about the event and the characters and hopefully having a lot to think about both while reading it and after finishing it.


That's my pick for this week, what's yours? Tell me in the comments and/or link me to your own post!