I goobled this book up in two and half days. It was wonderful. Funny and real, I found myself laughing out loud. Thinking back to encounters I had with strangers and wondering what their lives where like.

This is a book I want to keep, so when I feel blue I can read it again and again. It doesn't solve the world's problems, but has so many sweet simple lessons. It makes you think, how many times a day do I have an opportunity to learn or share? Do I take those opportunities? Beth has blessed us ALL, simply by being Beth as she was created.

This is the true story of an older sister who decided to connect with her mentally disabled younger sister by doing what she loves to do...ride the city buses. The adventures they have and the people they meet are heartwarming and always interesting. Intertwined in the story are flashbacks of their childhood, not always so pretty. I heartily recommend this book...a great read and a chance to stop and smell the roses.

This perceptive, uplifting chronicle shows how much Simon, a creative writing professor at Bryn Mawr College, had to learn from her mentally retarded sister, Beth, about life, love and happiness. Beth lives independently and is in a long-term romantic relationship, but perhaps the most surprising thing about her, certainly to her (mostly) supportive family, is how she spends her days riding buses. Six days a week (the buses don't run on Sundays in her unnamed Pennsylvania city), all day, she cruises around, chatting up her favorite drivers, dispensing advice and holding her ground against those who find her a nuisance. Rachel joined Beth on her rides for a year, a few days every two weeks, in an attempt to mend their distanced relationship and gain some insight into Beth's daily life. She wound up learning a great deal about herself and how narrowly she'd been seeing the world. Beth's community within the transit system is a much stronger network than the one Rachel has in her hectic world, and some of the portraits of drivers and the other people in Beth's life are unforgettable. Rachel juxtaposes this with the story of their childhood, including the dissolution of their parents' marriage and the devastating abandonment by their mother, the effect of which is tied poignantly to the sisters' present relationship. Although she is honest about the frustrations of relating to her stubborn sister, Rachel comes to a new appreciation of her, and it is a pleasure for readers to share in that discovery.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book for a book group. I ended up missing the discussion but was so involved in the book that I finished it anyway and loved it. It has so many good messages and really makes you think about the people around you and the way you view life. Definitely a worthwhile read, and clean, too.

Very moving story of how two sisters approach and embrace life. Beth, with mild mental retardation, enjoys every moment of her day, while her single sister Rachel lives in an emotional void, keeping busy with her life as a writer and professor. Beth teaches us all how to seize the moment! A good read, not too sappy, but will pull your heartstrings.

Kind of a slow read for me, but overall a very sweet book. The relationship that Rachel has with her mentally challengd sister, Beth, definitely keeps her on her toes. Rachel learns some life lessons and she has Beth to thank for that.

Excellent insight into mental retardation from a family members point of view. Allows us to understand that it is important to not "push" any individual into the shape we want them. We cannot try to put a square into a round peg - and the world is not full od only squares!

Wonderful read of a woman coming to terms with herself as she struggles to come to terms with her relationship with her sister, a person with mental retardation.

This was such a wonderful book. Highly recommended.

A great read about finding yourself while walking on someone else's path.

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i was entranced by this book and the compelling story of coping with a relative with special needs and her strive for independence.

I received this book as a gift, which was good because it kept me going. It was a little bit slow at first, but such a wonderful story. I didn't know there was a movie, but I'd like to see it now that I've read the book. So touching, so real. There was alot of great real-life advice. Words to live by. I'm glad I read it, and would recommend it to anyone. Get the kleenex ready.

Decent book.

This was a very touching story.

Very inlightening book. I enjoyed it very much.

Interesting from the perspective of a sister trying to understand her younger sister who has mental retardation.

Book to which Rosie O'Donnel played on tv about an with mental retardation lives her own life to which her sister finds difficult to come to gripes with...

Beth is a spirited woman with mental retardationwho spends nearly every day riding the buses in her Pennsylvania city. The drivers, a lively group, are her mentors; her fellow passengers are her community. Beth, who lives independently and has a boyfriend, is a joyful endearing, and feisty individual. Her single sister, Rachel, a writer and professor, masks her emotional isolation and loneliness behind her hyperbusy schedule. When Beth asks Rachel to accompany her on the buses for one year, they take a transcendent journey taht chnages Rachel's life in incredible ways, leads her to accept her sister at long last-and teaches her to slow down and enjoy the ride.

Loved it! Wonderful and surprising!

A touching story of two sisters... Read it in a day,

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