Introduction 

This summary and quote outline consists of approximately nine themes, chapter summaries, and quotes in Dashka Slater’s, The 57 Bus. The book explores gender, class, race, identity, and incarceration as it details life from two distinct families, from very different parts of Oakland. The book’s approach is journalistic and about a real-life occurrence on November 4, 2013, in Oakland, California. The city is portrayed as being culturally and racially diverse. The major themes mentioned include diversity, inequality, discrimination, gender identification, community, binaries, forgiveness, and adult versus adolescent crimes. In terms of identity and the justice system, Slater also explores the limitations of binaries and endeavors to investigate to effects of the attack on the lives of both the offender and the victim and as well as whole Oakland communities.