The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

• Sasha and Richard were two teenagers who lived in different parts of Oakland, CA, and although their lives could not have been more dissimilar, for eight minutes a day they crossed paths as they rode the 57 bus home from school.
• One day while Sasha is sleeping on the bus, Richard is egged on by his friends to play a prank and lights Sasha's skirt on fire.
• The aftermath of that one impulsive act irrevocably changes both teens' lives forever.  The author digs deep into each teen's background to illustrate who they were both before and after the incident.

This true story really grabbed me (and I'm not usually the biggest nonfiction fan),  The author does an amazing job of describing the very different worlds these two teens come from, and she presents both of them in a completely unbiased way.

Grades 7-12