The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

This book review contains spoilers about The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater.

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater is a nonfiction book about a crime in Oakland in 2013. One annoying teenager set another annoying teenager on fire on a bus for no good reason or any reason at all. The crime was like the one in Camus’ The Stranger in the way the perpetrator drifts into the crime more or less without protest or thought.

In spite of that, or maybe even because of it, the two annoying teenagers involved turn out to be good-hearted. They were also more resilient than they have any right to be. They certainly seem to end up more resilient than most. I can’t claim I’d have survived in each of their shoes with as much grace as they did.

Here’s what happened. Annoying teenager #1, known as Sascha, was on the 57 bus in Oakland going home from high school. What made Sascha annoying is that they were a super-smart autistic kid who identified as agender, changed their name and pronouns and generally could not avoid being a super-smart weirdo.

Annoying teenager #2, known as Richard, was also on an the 57 bus in Oakland going home from high school. What made Richard annoying was that he had a dad-sized hole in his heart that he tried to fill by ‘clowning’ for attention, approval, and anything else that might soothe the dad-sized hole in his heart.

Richard, in an infuriating turn of events, was goaded by some ‘friends’ into using a cigarette lighter to set the skirt that Sascha was wearing on fire. Richard showed no enthusiasm for this supposedly soon to be hilarious task. But Richard, being Richard, with his dad-sized desire for attention and approval, didn’t resist either. Finally, after repeated goading, Richard flicked on the lighter, touched the flame to the skirt, and hopped off the bus.

It’s a wonder no one called for the death penalty for a crime so stupid and so heinous. Setting someone on fire is never a joke of any sort and no amount of goading or desire for approval can justify it. It was a terrible thing to do.

And yet – the tagline of the book isn’t accurate.

The book’s tagline says ‘A true story of two teenagers and the crime that changed their lives.’

Startlingly, it didn’t really change their lives.

Before they got set on fire, Sascha was the sort of kid who would end up at MIT studying trains or buses or something.

Before he set someone on fire, Richard was the kind of kid who would end up in some sort of prison or juvenile facility.

After the fire, Sascha ended up at MIT studying buses. Apparently, none the worse for wear. Remarkably, Sascha seems to have forgiven Richard, and tromped off to a prestigious university with little bitterness.

Sascha doesn’t seem to feel any differently about being agender or non-conforming or a super-smart weirdo. Sascha is, and seemingly always has been, surrounded by people who like them a lot. Sascha’s just Sascha and hate seems to have no place in their heart. Amazing and good on ya, Sascha!

After the crime, Richard ended up in a juvenile facility in California. He apologized sincerely and remorsefully to Sascha and their family and acknowledged there was no reason whatsoever for him to do what he did. He committed a terrible crime without hate in his heart and did not go on to develop any.

Not only that, Richard seemingly learned how to fill the dad-sized hole in his heart by being grounded in himself and learning how to act with restraint. He did well in prison and showed no inclination to commit any further such crimes. He was never a truly bad or bitter person and no one wanted him to become one.

Go figure! Good for you, Richard, learning how to live without doing stupid things for the approval of stupid people. You go guy!

Which makes the book, although it is by no means obvious at first, rather heartwarming.

The author, Dashka Slater, is a journalist. She writes in a crisp, easy to read style broken into many many short chapters. Her approach helped make the book more readable. Otherwise, the subject matter (person being set on fire!) becomes tough to absorb.

The book touches on many peripheral issues beyond the crime itself.

The nature of Oakland. Gender identity. Hate crimes. Juveniles in prisons.

Brief chapters on these intersecting but tangential issues make up a large portion of the book. And yet none of those issues spoke to me, or made much of an impression on me other than one stark statistic at the end of the book: ‘Percentage of confined youths who have witnessed someone severely injured or killed: 70.’

Yikes. If there’s one thing that could make Oakland, and America, better, it’s exposing fewer young people to horrific violence. Right now, America and young people witnessing horrific violence are pretty much synonymous these days, what with a school shooting occurring once every OH WAIT THERE’S ANOTHER ONE, THIS TIME IN WISCONSIN!

The book, written in 2017, focuses a lot on gender identity issues. Gender identity, it seems, became sort of a thing during the presidency of George W. Bush but has engendered (oh, what a bad pun) a lot of vicious backlash since the book was written.

If everyone of all possible genders is lucky, it will soon fade into the background again for awhile.

Bottom line: this is a tough book to read given the subject matter involves someone sustaining major burns for no reason. But it is not, ultimately, a bummer of a book, but rather a testament to the ability of even the most unlikely of folks to heal and cope and forgive.