Riding the Bus with My Sister

Rachel Simon is the author of six books; The Story of Beautiful Girl, The House On Teacher's Lane, Riding The Bus With My Sister, The Writer's Survival Guide, The Magic Touch, and Little Nightmares Little Dreams. In 2005, Hallmark Hall of Fame adapted Riding The Bus With My Sister for a film by the same name. It starred Rosie O'Donnell as Rachel's sister Beth and Andie MacDowell as Rachel, and it was directed by Anjelica Huston. Rachel is one of the only authors to have been selected twice for the

In the book Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon, she explains her travels with her sister Beth. After recognizing that the two sisters have grown apart, Rachel promises Bath that she will ride the buses with her for a year. Beth Simon has intellectual disabilities, but with a great deal of studying and practicing she has mastered riding the bus and takes Rachel with her throughout her travels to everywhere and nowhere in the Pennsylvania city in which she lives. Whether Beth is going to

Reading through Rachel Simon's Riding the Bus with My Sister, I consistently felt that Beth fit the mold of a secondary character rather than a primary one. I initially thought I had interpreted it this way considering I was expecting Beth to be the focal point of the text, what with the disability-based memoirs we have been reading, but my hesitation regarding such an assumption faded as I continued reading. As the text progresses, it becomes more and more clear that Beth’s presence is meant to

My Story It was January 17, 1955. I was a white, young, American girl riding the Cleveland Avenue bus on my way home. We stopped two stops before mine, when a black woman got on the bus and sat in the seat behind me. I later learned her name was Rosa Parks. We hit the last stop before my stop and a very large group of working men and women from the factory across the street got on the bus. Everyone sat down and one man was left standing. A tall and muscular built man was left standing, so the bus

When I first rode the bus with Mr. Lach I did not know what to expect because I had never rode the bus. My mother had always drove my sisters and I to school but I no longer was at the elementary and needed a ride to school. The first day I stepped on that bus Mr. Lach greeted me to my surprise using my name. I then did not know where to sit so I sat with my friends Dylan Devier and Drew Meyers which was a mistake because they were the kids that caused trouble and hair loss to those who could not

When I was 5 my dad died after being diagnosed with brain cancer. Ever since then it has affected my family in great ways. But undeniably, the one who my dad’s death hit the least hard is me. I might sound like I’m preaching here, but I believe what really hurts about losing a family member is losing the bond you have with them. Because I was four when Dad died, I don’t even know what exactly it is I lost. I’m sure growing up without a dad has affected me dramatically, but what I can’t say for sure

like a child. It was my first time catching the RTA to and from school. I didn’t know anyone on the west side, let alone at my new school. A couple days before school my mother showed me the route to school; we took the RTA to the school and back so that I could see where my stops were. Even though I was shown the route, I tend to get lost pretty easy so, you could imagine that I didn’t like riding the bus. When I got out of school I went to the bus stop to wait for my bus, the 86, and it never

Anyways my mom wasn’t able to take us to school that day because she had work early in the morning so Nicki walked to school and Madi and I went to a friend’s house where we could ride a bus to school. I hated riding that smelly bus. It was just too bumpy and noisy and I always hit my head on those tiny bolts that framed the window. Later on that morning, I continued my ritual school day. I stuffed my ugly puffy winter coat in my little locker, but it was just always so annoying when my mom made

It was a summer morning and I boarded the bus alone for the first time. I was not on the school bus, but rather the RTA. I was one of the first people on the bus, and I sat in a comfortable blue seat halfway down the center aisle. My first RTA experiences started when I was a young boy, with my parents of course, but this past summer I rode alone on my way to Saint Ignatius High School for a summer camp. I learned how to navigate the city of Cleveland and how to use the convenient public transportation

because we were in the line of California Screamin in Disneyland. After a few minutes a idea came to my mind and it was to play tennis with my Cousin and Uncle which were in line with me. Smack the first hit made my hand red but it wasn’t over my Uncle wanted to vs me to. I waited a few minutes to let my hand rest then I decided to vs Chris. “Ouch!” I yell. “Haha” my Uncle laughs at me. Smack!!, I hit my Uncle’s hand and he didn’t even budge but after a few matches we found are way to the guy checking