Deshka Slater uses back stories and, others’ words to provide prospective and logistics in 

order to give her readers a sense of empathising with the two main characters, Richard and Sasha. 

Helping us gain understanding of the book as a whole. Slater introduces Shasha and Richard as 

two teens living complex lives different from each other. Sasha is an agender teen attending 

Maybeck high school, their transition is not only a stir for them but for everyone around them. 

While Richard is an African American teen attending Oakland highschool, Richards life is 

chaotic and troubled which affects many around him. The two tTeens would eventually cross 

paths because of the 57 bus, Richard lighting Sashas skirt on fire in 2013. The author establishes 

empathy throughout the entire book, forcing us to empathize with both main characters. Slater 

does this by introducing each character individually and in great detail, establishing how justice 

is more important than vengeance, and showing the different kinds of forgiveness.  

Before going into the story of a crime that changed two teenagers' lives, Slater gives the 

reader perspective on the lives of Sasha and Richard helping the reader empathise with both 

characters. As a reader, understanding the characters is a critical piece to understanding the story 

you will begin to embark on, Slater takes her characters to the next level by helping the reader see 

them in many lights. The reader begins this story with Sasha, not as Sasha yet but as Luke. The 

author takes the reader on a journey on the complicated transgender transition of an austic 

teenager. Not only does the author focus on Sashas' appearance of “chin-length, wavy brown hair, 

a pale round face,and thick dark eyebrows” (P. 16-17), but we see into Sasha's life, each reader sees 

different peoples’ perspectives from when Sasha was young to current.. “Sasha was brainy, shy, and 

introverted, the kind of kid who was easy to overlook” (P. 21). Slater using these very typical 

descriptions helps us see how Sasha is just a normal teen. Many people have trouble seeing 
transgender persons as normal people. Transgender people are not accepted fully and the auther 

does her best to show the reader us how Sasha is just a regulalr teenager. Slater helps ​the reader 

empathise with Sasha by showing how normal and accepting ​we s​ hould be when being 

approached with this topic. Sasha friend Samantha had felt as though they were transgender. 

When approaching Sasha with this topic Sasha responded “You're the only one who knows how 

you feel. If that's the word for what you feel then stick with that, now what is the important thing 

you needed to tell me” (26) Slater helps us empathise with Sasha and they go through their changes 

by showing us how Sasha empathised with their friends going through similar experiences.  

When empathising both sides of the story need to be shown. Richard is an 

African-American teen who describes himself as neither a “thug, hoodlum, gangster nor a monster, 

just a young African American male who made a terrible mistake” (p#). Richard is the type of kid 

who advocates for himself, because others weren't able to advocate for him. He was thought of as 

kind and intelligent by peers. Richard even described himself as “a good kid who sometimes ended 

up in trouble” (#). The author is showing us that Richard doesn’t mean to harm others but as a 

teenager it can be difficult to make rational decisions as teens brains are not fully developed in the 

areas of the brain that help people as a whole make rational decisions. In many places through 

this nonfiction novel we see where Richard shows his compassions but one that is most prevalent is 

when Kaprice talked about Richard. “He wanted people to be happy, that was the thing everybody 

noticed about him” (P. 82). The author says in so many places how caring of a person Richard was. 

By doing this it helps the reader to see why Richard is not a bad person, he is someone who got 

caught up in a terrible situation. Not only does the author show us how kind and caring Richard 

is, she also shows the readers that he is willing to take responsibility for his actions. When asked 
by the police if anyone had told Richard to set Saha skirt on fire Richard says “No”, even though 

Jamal had egged him on. Richard knew what he had done was wrong and knew that he was the 

one who started the fire. He wasn't interested in getting anyone else in trouble he was looking to 

own up to what he did.  

Another key aspect to understanding Richards mindset are the letters he wrote to Sasha 

while in custody. Richard writes about how sorry he is, and how wrong his actions were. When the 

readers sees these letters we begin to understand that Richards empathy is not forced or faked, he 

truly means every word he writes in this letter. As Richard continues having hearing at court he 

feels that he needs to further apologize and explain himself to Sasha, he writes a second letter. As a 

reader we see how invested he is in Sahsa life. He incorporates bible verses and more apologies. 

Empathising with Richard can be difficult at first, he is the one who caused the fire but Richard 

does a good job of putting himself in a vulnerable position by writing these letters. He doesn't 

know how Sasha's family will react, if news sources will get ahold of them and use the letters 

against him or if the letters will even be read by Sasha. By writing these we see he is invested in 

Ssha well being. He truly understands the severity of the situation and is willing to receive the 

consequences.  

Sasha and her family had been greatly hurt emotionally and for Sasha physically by the 

fire caused by Richard in November of 2013. In this type of situation as a reader we expect Sasha's 

family to lash out, want to upmost revenge for the situation they have been put in. The reader 

soon realizes this is not what Karl, Debbie or Sasha want at all. Karl feelis it is important for 

others to understand his point of view and not jump to conclusions with his family's situation. Karl 

writes a letter to his students and other staff at the elementary school where he works. “ I think it 
is really important to keep in our minds that none of us can know the mind , motivations or 

intentions of the person who set flame to Sasha's clothing” (P. 187). By explaining this it gives 

others a piece of mind, others may be upset but hearing someone who is directly affected by this 

crime state that staying calm and keeping the best possible thoughts about the situation in mind 

gives the reader and everyone receiving the letter from Karl a sense of stability. When the family is 

able to approach the situation in a calm manner a lot of good can come out of a bad situation. 

Karl and Debbie stated multiple times that they did not want Richard to receive an adult 

sentence, they both understand how teenagers work and although this was a very serious crime 

they felt that Richard (still only being 16 at the time of the crime) did not deserve to be sentenced 

as an adult. Debiie and Carl were both wary about making recommendations on how Richard 

should be sentenced. Debbie's states “ I never felt like I had enough information to know how to 

judge or think about this kid” (P. 242). Both adults agreed with this statement made by debbie. We 

see how truly open minded Sasha family is going into court, they do not look for Richard to be 

sentenced to the most years possible, they want his to learn from this mistake. It is not about 

vengeance for their family, it is about Richard receiving the appropriate amount of justice. 

Although Debbie and Karl didn't feel as though restorative Justice was a good option for them the 

family's impromptu encounter Richards mom Jasmine had been nice. The family was looking for 

healing for Richard and his family. Once Richard had received his sentencing Debbie gave a 

victim statement. After  

The loving the court she told reporters that Just because they were forgiving doesn't mean that the 

crime did not greatly impact them. Their family had been given a very tough situation but they 

made the best of it, they understood that Richard was just a kid and he meant well. They wanted 
what was best for him. Karl (who worked daily with kids) didn't want to see Richard get crushed. 

Often when kids go into the system may become multiple time offenders. They didn't want to see 

Richard, who they knew was a good kid, get into more trouble because of one mistake. Debie goes 

on to say “I wish it had turned out differently for Richard, we got Sasha back but poor Jasmine, 

she lost her son for years.” (P. 264). Showing compassion for the family, the reason for your own 

child's pain shows incredible strength. It shows us that empathy is a key component to solving 

issues big and small.  

Sasha and her family chose forgiveness, this does not mean it came easily to them. 

Forgiveness is something that can happen at different speeds. All of the Sahsas family is a prime 

example of the different speeds and forms of forgiveness. Karl is the most pragmatic with his 

forgiveness, he understands Sasha has been hurt and there is nothing that will bring him back in 

time to reverse that sh=o he chooses to move forward and try to make the best out of the situation. 

Karl tries to help others not involved in the situation understand his point of view. He writes a 

letter explaining that no one can understand the mindset of Richard during this event. Karl states 

that understanding everyone's uniqueness is key, and they we need to be looking out for each 

other. He is taking the situation how it is given to him. In the very beginning of the book the 

reader is given a summary of the next 200 plus pages they will begin to read. Slater ends this 

chapter with “there must be something you can do ''. This gives us a good idea of how everyone 

involved in the fire must have felt. They needed to forgive themselves and receive forgiveness from 

Sasha and her family. The man with the mustache who had helped out the flames out, even though 

helping Sasha still felt as though he hadn't done enough. Forgiving yourself is just as difficult as 

trying to receive forgiveness from someone else. Slater shows that Sasha is not mad at Richard, 
they are mad at the situation. It is astonishing how much forgiveness and open mindedness Sasha 

has, After they have just been terribly hurt. After receiving the letters from zRichard almost a year 

after they were written Sasha states “I sympathize with him a lot, reading his letters. It was 

definitely really moving to see his perspective.” (P. 269). Sasha being so understanding helps us 

comprehend how much this event impacted them. “I don't really feel hated, One person hates me ''. 

(P. 248). Everyone coming together definitely changed Sasha's outlook. If no one had been 

supporting them things could have gone much different, the hatred could have built up and they 

would not have understood how to forgive. But because the event led to such support for so many 

around the world Sasha had a better way to relieve the feeling of hurt and hate, channeling it, to 

eventually forgive Richard and to inspire those following Sasha's story to be more compassionate 

and forgiving.  

Many news reporters serving for the LGBTQ community wanted Richard to be “locked up 

for life” (P. 166) and to have his mother locked up too. They don't yet see how the family wanted 

the situation handled. They wanted what they felt was right for their community. Slater uses these 

quotes to show us how Sasha's family could have reacted. By showing the exact opposite of 

empathy we see how great their family showed compassion even when others believed Richard did 

not deserve it. Debbie and Karl soon learned that others needed to hear their point of view. “Sasha, 

Debbie and I have forgiven Richard” (P. 286). Doing this this publically and in person gives Karls 

words a greater impact. It shows the reader that the family has taken the time to see Richard as a 

person and not a monster. Even though the family had been greatly impacted by Richards 

stupidity they still learned to move on and they hoped that Richard would be bettered by this 

experience.  
 Through this nonfiction novel Slater has been enforcing the ideas of compassion and 

forgiveness. Both of these help show how Slater forces us to empathise with the main characters 

throughout the entire book. Giving us detailed looks into both characters lives, establishing that 

justice is more important than vengeance especially in Juvenile cases, and the process of 

forgiveness varying from character to character. Any reader who has had some sort of conflict can 

relate to all of these statements the author wants us to understand in the book The 57 Bus.  

Work Cited  

SLATER, DASHKA. ​57 BUS: a True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their 

Lives​. FABER AND FABER, 2019.