2022 Communiteen Read
dashka slater
Best-selling author Dashka Slater has been telling stories since she could talk. An award-winning journalist who writes for such publications as The New York Times Magazine and Mother Jones, she is also the author of eleven books of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults.
BOOK SUMMARY
One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.
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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 gender nonconforming 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. Winner of the American Library Association’s Stonewall Book Award and YALSA-ALA Excellence for Nonfiction Award Finalist. (From Macmillan Publishers)
