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    Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077
    Unavailable
    Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077
    Unavailable
    Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077
    Audiobook6 hours

    Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077

    Written by Craig Davidson

    Narrated by John Cleland

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    For readers of Kristine Barnett's The Spark, Andrew Solomon's Far From the Tree and Ian Brown's The Boy in the Moon, here is a heartfelt, funny and surprising memoir about one year spent driving a bus full of children with special needs.

    With his last novel, Cataract City, Craig Davidson established himself as one of our most talented novelists. But before writing that novel and before his previous work, Rust and Bone, was made into a Golden Globe-nominated film, Davidson experienced a period of poverty, apparent failure and despair. In this new work of riveting and timely non-fiction, Davidson tells the unvarnished story of one transformative year in his life and of his unlikely relationships with a handful of unique and vibrant children who were, to his initial astonishment and bewilderment, and eventual delight, placed in his care for a couple of hours each day–the kids on school bus 3077.
         One morning in 2008, desperate and impoverished while trying unsuccessfully to write, Davidson plucked a flyer out of his mailbox that read, "Bus Drivers Wanted." That was the first step towards an unlikely new career: driving a school bus full of special-needs kids for a year. Armed only with a sense of humour akin to that of his charges, a creative approach to the challenge of driving a large, awkward vehicle while corralling a rowdy gang of kids, and unexpected reserves of empathy, Davidson takes us along for the ride. He shows us how his evolving relationship with the kids on that bus, each of them struggling physically as well as emotionally and socially, slowly but surely changed his life along with the lives of the "precious cargo" in his care. This is the extraordinary story of that year and those relationships. It is also a moving, important and universal story about how we see and treat people with special needs in our society.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateFeb 27, 2018
    ISBN9780735276598
    Unavailable
    Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077
    Author

    Craig Davidson

    Craig Davidson was born in Toronto. He wrote Rust and Bone in 2005 and his debut novel, The Fighter, in 2007. His next novel is set in the Niagara Falls region and is titled Cataract City. It will be published by Atlantic UK in early 2014. Craig enjoys hearing from his readers, and encourages them to contact him through his website, www.craigdavidson.net.

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    Reviews for Precious Cargo

    4/5

    35 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is the second book I have completed of the 5 finalists for Canada Reads. I probably won't get to the last 3 but both of those I've read have been excellent, and really meet the criterion of this year's theme: one book to open your eyes.Author Craig Davidson, now a best-selling author, was broke, and feeling like a failure as a writer. The opportunity arose to apply to be a school bus driver. Out of desperation, he took the job. It suited him and his lifestyle: drive the kids to school in the morning, write during the day, pick the kids up at school in the late afternoon and take them home. Easy enough. But what he never expected, over the year that followed, was how much he would become engaged and involved - and in love - with his charges. The kids he drove were special needs students, 6 of them, each different, each special, in his or her own unique ways. But what unfolded over that year was a compassion and a slow unfolding of questions, answers and understanding that Davidson never anticipated and - to his credit - never shied away from. He embraced each challenge that arose, questioned his own uncertainties, admitted his own mistakes and explored his feelings and emotions. As a teacher of just such special needs kids, myself, for many years, I found his insights - and questions and responses - to be really genuine and heartfelt. I've personally known many of the bus drivers of my own students over the years and almost wish I were still working so I could share this book with a few of them! I may have to find a way to do that!
    • 4/5
      Great writing. Should have won Canada Reads. Davidson sees deeply into the everyday, the love of those we serve and their love for us.
    • 4/5
      Craig Davidson's latest book is a memoir entitled Precious Cargo: My Year Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077.Davidson has achieved success as an author numerous times. But at one point, he was struggling to keep the coffers filled. And so...."I took a job driving a school because I was penniless; it was that simple."But Davidson ended up finding more than monetary gain. He drove Route 412. "Special needs. Six students. One wheelchair, five walks."Davidson started keeping notes (with permission from the families) on his charges, his thoughts, their interactions - and the changes that year brought. Those notes are this book. "Anytime those kids said something hilarious or quizzical or profane or insightful or humane - well, I'd rush to my notebook (not while active driving!) and jot it down."In the beginning Davidson is unsure as to how this job will work out, but he soon becomes invested in his charges - and more involved with one student outside of the bus. We come to know each student, their personalities and their peccadilloes. Davidson is a staunch vocal (and physical) defender of the 3077 kids, but soon comes realize that that it is his own perceptions, uneasiness and awkwardness around the disabled that are fueling his temper. When he lets that go, the 'disabled kids' that he's driving lose that descriptor for him and simply become 'kids.' Kudos to Davidson for being so honest in describing his own behaviours - a few of actions did surprise me. In some ways, Davidson is just as fragile that year as some his charges.And over the year, Davidson finds himself changed..."If I was broken, then the bus fixed me. You guys fixed me. The physical truth is that I drove you. The deeper truth is that you drove me. Drove me to step out of my own sickened skin, to stop feeling sorry for myself and to see the world for its beauties more than it's agonies..."Excerpts from an unpublished novel called The Seekers are interspersed between chapters - it's easy to see the inspiration and metaphorical matches for the kids on Route 412.I'm a bit disappointed that Davidson's contact with the riders ended at the end of that school year. I would have liked to know where the kids are today - especially Jake, who described Craig as his 'older brother.'As they say, the best stories in life are the real ones. And this recounting of a year in the life of a school bus driver and his riders is a darn good one.
    • 3/5
      I heard this book reviewed on CBC Radio and thought "nope, not gonna read that." Then, it was selected as a Canada Reads finalist, so I did.Craig Davidson was a penniless writer who, upon finding a flyer in his mailbox, applied for and was hired as a school bus driver. He was assigned to Route 412: Special needs, 5 walks, 1 wheelchair. This book tells the story of his year driving these kids to and from school. During that year, Davidson learned a lot about the kids, about people with disabilities in general, and himself. He built a good relationship with his passengers, defending them (a bit too much at times) and learning how to relate to them as individuals, based on their needs. It is a heart-warming story of personal growth.The story of the year on the bus is interspersed with sections of an unpublished novel Davidson worked on, which features his passengers as heroes in a dystopian future. I could have done without that...or read it all together at the end. It broke up the story and took a while (for me at least) to figure out its relevance. The book is also repetitive at times. And, there are days where it seems he didn't pick up the kids...or he did, but didn't get them at the end of the day....I'm sure there were alternative arrangements made, but wondering where the kids were while he waited to get his bus repaired distracted me.Bottom line: some great insights, but could have been better executed.
    • 3/5
      C
      I don’t know why this didn’t grab me harder than it did. It was okay. But... I don’t know. I liked the kids. For the most part, I liked Craig. But it just fell a little flat.
    • 4/5
      In 2008 Craig Davidson was a struggling writer who took a job driving a school bus in Calgary to make ends meet. The precious cargo that the title refers to, are the special needs teens he sees from doorstep to school and back again each day. The book is about stories; the story of each of the kids, the stories they tell on the bus, and the stories that they created together that year. I think the book may help people who don’t have a lot of contact with special needs students move from merely being sympathetic to their situations to greater empathy and truly understanding what they need and want. There are some very poignant moments in the book, and it seems that it was an impactful year for both Davidson and the kids. Davidson says we should tell the stories that are nearest to our hearts. I think he achieved that with Precious Cargo.