Riding the Bus with My Sister

Riding the Bus with My Sister is a memoir by Rachel Simon, published in 2002 by Houghton Mifflin about the time she spent with her sister Beth, who has a developmental disability, whose lifestyle revolves around riding buses in her home city.

Plot

The memoir is about Simon's 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 language. 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.

Movie adaptation

Riding the Bus with My Sister
Directed by	Anjelica Huston
Produced by	Sherri Saito
Written by	novel Rachel Simon teleplay Joyce Eliason
Starring	Rosie O'Donnell Andie MacDowell
Music by	Stewart Copeland
Cinematography	Anthony B. Richmond
Edited by	Roberto Silvi
Production company	Blue Ridge Motion Pictures
Distributed by	Hallmark Channel
Release dates	May 1, 2005 (2005-05-01) (U.S.)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

In 2005, the book was adapted into a television movie for CBS in which Rosie O'Donnell appears as Beth, a woman with an intellectual disability, who is dependent on her father. When her father dies, her sister, played by Andie MacDowell, comes to stay with her. At first, they fight about Beth's rampant consumption of junk food, resulting in bringing her cholesterol levels up, but after six months Rachel realizes that Beth is content with her life.

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.

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."

The film was directed by Anjelica Huston and filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Cast

• Andie MacDowell - Rachel Simon
• Rosie O'Donnell - Beth Simon
• Richard T. Jones - Jesse
• D.W. Moffett - Rick
• Boyd Banks - Henry
• Tom Barnett - Bobby
• Peter Cockett - Sam
• Raven Dauda - Shane
• Jayne Eastwood - Estella
• Allegra Fulton - Vera
• Shauna MacDonald - Nona
• Roberta Maxwell - Valerie
• Vijaya Mehta - Pradlip
• Charles Officer - Xaxier
• Simon Reynolds - Morros
• Angelo Tsarouchas - Mean Eugene

Reception

O'Donnell's performance as Beth has been criticized for being "over the top."

Awards

• In 2006 it was nominated for Best Family Television Movie or Special - Young Artist Award

External links

• Riding the Bus with My Sister at AllMovie
• Riding the Bus with My Sister at IMDb