Riding the Bus with My Sister

Author: Rachel Simon

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Mental Illness, Metal Retardation, Siblings of Individuals with Disabilities, Sisters, Family Relationships,

Year of Publication: 2003

Publisher & Location: Penguin Group, Inc., New York, NY

ISBN#:

• ISBN13: 9780452284555
• ISBN: 0452284554
• BINC: 7215469

Target Age Level: Young Adult and Adult

# of Pages: 296

Quality of Illustrations: None

Brief Summary: This book follows the author's journey to better understand her sister in adult hood. Her sister, Beth, is in her thirties and has mental retardation. She spends her days riding buses. She challenged Rachel to ride the buses with her for one year. Rachel accepted the challenge, and spent every few weekends for the next year, riding the buses with Beth. Along the way, Rachel explores the things she loves and dislikes about her sister and experiences many flashbacks about what life was like growing up with a sister with a disability.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: I felt that this book did a really good job portraying all of the mixed emotions and thoughts of a sibling of an individual with a disability, who is an oft-forgotten group in literature.

1. Activity: While reading this book with/to a group of teenagers or adults with disabilities, you could have them plan out a bus trip and list all of the things they will need in order to find the right buses to take them to the right spots.
2. While reading this book with/to a group of teenage or adult siblings of individuals with disabilities, you could challenge them to increase the amount of time they spend with their sibling with a disability and document the time in a journal or diary.