Riding the Bus with My Sister
Encyclopedia
Riding the Bus with My Sister is a memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
by Rachel Simon
Rachel Simon
Rachel Simon is an American author of both fiction and non-fiction. Her six books include the 2011 novel , which was her first New York Times Bestseller, and the 2002 memoir , which was a national bestseller...
, published in 2002 by Houghton Mifflin
Houghton Mifflin
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
about the time she spent with her sister Beth, who has a developmental disability, whose lifestyle revolves around riding buses in her home city.
Book
Rachel Simon's memoir, Riding The Bus With My Sister, is about her relationship with her sister Beth, who has an intellectual disability and who spends her days riding the fixed route buses in the Pennsylvania city where she lives. Beth also lives independently, has a boyfriend named Jesse, and receives supports from two caring Direct Support Professionals, Vera and Olivia. Rachel is a busy writer and professor who loves her sister, but by the time they are in their late thirties, they've grown apart. When Beth asks Rachel to ride the buses with her for a year, Rachel reluctantly agrees. The book chronicles that year, during which Rachel befriends the bus drivers, Jesse, and Olivia, and learns about such key civil rights issues as self-determination and People-first languagePeople-first language
People-first language is a form of linguistic prescriptivism in English, aiming to avoid perceived and subconscious dehumanization when discussing people with disabilities, as such forming an aspect of disability etiquette....
. The story in the present alternates with the story of the sisters' tumultuous family history, which also presents the struggles and pleasures of siblings of people with disabilities.
Many aspects of the book were altered for the film. These include turning Rachel into a fashion photographer, eliminating an older sister and changing the name of the brother, and having the sisters' father die early in the story (whereas, in real life, he was still alive when the movie aired). The civil rights aspect of the story was also less explicit, the backstory was compressed, both characters were presented as more extreme than they are in the book, and several other characters were composites.
Rachel Simon has said of the movie: "It's a poignant, moving, and powerful film. It also portrays both characters, as well as the struggles of the special sibling relationship, in a more realistic way than we usually get to see in film, and presents bus drivers as the everyday heroes that I now know them to be. In addition, the movie highlights some of the main themes from my book: Beth's right to live her life by her own choices, the importance of public transportation for a fully independent life, the essential need for friendships in the community, and the challenges and rewards of the sibling bond."
Adaptation
In 2005, the book was adapted into a television movieTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in which Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
appears as Beth, a woman with a developmental disability,
who is dependent on her father. When her father dies, her sister, played by Andie MacDowell
Andie MacDowell
Rosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
, comes to stay with her. At first, they fight about Beth's rampant consumption of junk food, resulting in bringing her cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
levels up, but after six months Rachel realizes that Beth is content with her life.
O'Donnell's performance as Beth, has been both praised as "disturbingly accurate" and criticized as "over the top." It was directed by Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
and filmed in Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Cast
- Andie MacDowellAndie MacDowellRosalie Anderson "Andie" MacDowell is an American model and actress. She has received the Golden Camera and an Honorary César.-Early life:...
- Rachel Simon - Rosie O'DonnellRosie O'DonnellRoseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
- Beth Simon - Richard T. JonesRichard T. JonesRichard Timothy Jones is an American film and television actor.Jones was born in Kobe, Japan and raised in Carson, California. He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player and the hitting instructor for the Cleveland Indians. He also has an older...
- Jesse - D.W. MoffettD.W. MoffettDonald Warren Moffett is an American actor known for the recurring role of Joe McCoy on the NBC series Friday Night Lights since 2008, and as Dean Winston on The WB series, For Your Love.-Early life:...
- Rick - Jazzmin Parker - Young Beth
- Emily Swiss - Young Rachel
- Britney Lebel - Teen Beth
- Mallory Margel - Teen Rachel
- Boyd BanksBoyd BanksBoyd Banks is a Canadian stand-up comedian known for doing edgy material, and actor.-Biography:Banks has appeared in such films as Bruiser , Wild Iris , Dawn of the Dead , Phil the Alien , Land of the Dead , Cinderella Man , Diary of The Dead and Pontypool...
- Henry - Tom Barnett - Bobby
- Peter Cockett - Sam
- Raven Dauda - Shane
- Jayne EastwoodJayne EastwoodJayne Eastwood , also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress most famous for appearing in the 2002 film Chicago. She was one of the original cast members of the Toronto branch of The Second City, and was a semi-regular on SCTV...
- Estella - Allegra Fulton - Vera
- Shauna MacDonaldShauna MacDonaldShauna MacDonald is a Canadian television and film actress and radio announcer.-Life and career:MacDonald was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. She graduated from Dr...
- Nona - Roberta MaxwellRoberta Maxwell-Background:Roberta Maxwell began studying for the stage at the age of 12. She joined John Clark for 2 years as the child co-host of his Junior Magazine series for CBC Television, before becoming the youngest actress apprentice at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario,to pursue...
- Valerie - Vijaya MehtaVijaya MehtaVijaya Mehta is an Indian Theatre and film director and also an actor in many films from the Parallel Cinema. She is most known for her acclaimed role in film Party and for her directorial ventures, Rao Saheb and Pestonjee ....
- Pradlip - Stephanie Morganstern- Olivia
- Charles OfficerCharles OfficerCharles Officer is a Jamaican-Canadian writer, actor, director and former professional hockey player in the United States.-Director:Officer’s directorial debut, When Morning Comes, premiered at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival...
- Xaxier - Simon ReynoldsSimon ReynoldsSimon Reynolds is an English music critic who is well-known for his writings on electronic dance music and for coining the term "post-rock". Besides electronic dance music, Reynolds has written about a wide range of artists and musical genres, and has written books on post-punk and rock...
- Morros - Angelo TsarouchasAngelo TsarouchasAngelo Tsarouchas is a Canadian comedian/actor, whose parents are originally from Greece. A large element of his stand-up comedy revolves around the parody of his Greek origins.- Life and career :...
- Mean Eugene
Awards
- In 2006 it was nominated for Best Family Television Movie or Special - Young Artist AwardYoung Artist AwardThe Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...