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	Rachel Simon Author of Riding The Bus With My Sister and the forthcoming memoir tentatively titled Building a Home With My Husband
Read An Excerpt Reviews and Quotes Book News Buy the Book Now	Rachel Simon is an award-winning author and nationally known public speaker. She is best known for her critically acclaimed, bestselling memoir Riding The Bus With My Sister, which was adapted for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie by the same name. The book has garnered numerous awards, and is a frequent and much beloved selection of many book clubs, school reading programs, and city-wide reads throughout the country.	*Photo by Anne Knoll www.knollphotos.com*
About the Author Author Appearances The Cool Beth Express	Because of the success of Riding The Bus With My Sister, Rachel is a frequently sought-after speaker for groups that advocate on behalf of people with disabilities, as well as groups seeking speakers with original, inspirational messages. Rachel is currently completing a second memoir, tentatively titled Building A Home With My Husband, which will be published by Dutton in 2009.
Tips on Writing Rachel's Fiction Links Contact Information Home	A moving, thoughtful, and gently humorous book, Building A Home With My Husband tells of a year shortly after her bus ride with her sister, when Rachel went on a similar internal journey where she learned just as much about herself, the challenges of truly seeing others for who they are, and the difficulties of understanding what love really is. More specifically, when Rachel and her architect husband renovated their hundred-year-old house, they discovered that renovation is not only about the hammers, dollars, and contractors, but also about the hard-won rewards of marriage and family. Plus, readers will learn the ways that a husband and wife cope when a subcontractor accidentally blows up their house. Fans of Riding The Bus With My Sister will also be happy to know that they will finally learn more about Rachel's relationship with Sam (whose real name is at last revealed), and how Cool Beth has been faring since she invited Rachel onto the bus. To learn more about Building A Home With My Husband, please keep checking this site. To learn more about Riding The Bus With My Sister, please continue reading below. If you've ever loved someone you grew apart from — maybe a sister, maybe a friend, maybe someone who was once very special to you — you know the deep longing that led to the inspiring true story, Riding The Bus With My Sister. Rachel Simon's sister Beth is a spirited woman who lives intensely and often joyfully, and who also happens to have developmental disabilities (or what used to be known as "mental retardation"). When the book opens, Beth is spending her days riding the buses in the city where she lives, creating powerful connections with the drivers and passengers. Rachel, a driven professor and writer, is struggling to come to terms with her own ambitions and loneliness — as well as her distant feelings toward her one-of-a-kind sister. One day, Beth invites Rachel to join her for a year on the buses. Rachel says yes, and so begins a journey that changes both sisters' lives. Riding The Bus With My Sister weaves together three strands: the chronicle of this remarkable bus odyssey, life lessons Beth and Rachel learned from the characters they met on their travels, and memories of their riveting family story, unusual by any standard. Throughout the book, Rachel Simon brings to light the world of adults with developmental disabilities, finds unlikely heroes in everyday life, and discovers unrealized strength in herself — and her indomitable, unforgettable sister. This page-turning journey is impossible to read without laughing, and unimaginable to read without crying. It will make you prouder of your distinct individuality, while also making you proud to be part of the whole human family.
	Buy the Book Now Buy the book at Booksense.com or wherever books are sold. For a signed, personalized copy, contact Jack Buck of the Ninth Street Book Shop in Delaware via phone (302.652.3315) or e-mail (jackbuck at aol.com). Shipping charges will apply.
	About the Movie Want to learn more about the movie? Click here. Want to order the movie? See below. Riding The Bus With My Sister was filmed for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Rosie O'Donnell starred as Beth, Andie MacDowell starred as Rachel, and Anjelica Huston directed. Larry Sanitsky and Rosie O'Donnell were the executive producers, and Joyce Eliason was the screenwriter. The film aired on CBS on May 1, 2005. To see photos from the movie, click here. To see the poster for the movie, click here. Note: Adobe Acrobat is required to open the movie poster PDF file. If you do not have the program installed, you can download it here. To order the movie, call 1-800-HALLMARK or go to a Hallmark Gold Crown store near you. To find a Gold Crown store, click here.
	Additional Information About the Book The paperback edition of Riding The Bus With My Sister, published by Plume, is available wherever books are sold. (ISBN 0-452-28455-4; price is $15.00) Riding The Bus With My Sister was published by Houghton Mifflin in August 2002. Excerpts from the book appeared in the September 2002 issues of Rosie magazine and Reader's Digest. Reader's Digest also printed a condensation of the book in their special section, "Best Nonfiction of 2002" (November 2002). Foreign rights have been sold in Italy, Australia, Sweden, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Korea, Israel,and China. Riding The Bus With My Sister was selected to be a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book in the fall of 2002. For radio and television interviews, please click on Author Appearances. Three flyers in PDF format are available for printing: a general flyer, a transit-oriented flyer, and a flyer for faith-based groups. Note: Adobe Acrobat is required to open the PDF file. If you do not have the program installed, you can download it here. Readers' Guide Click here for Plume's downloadable guide and author interview. Community Do you know about the community-wide reading programs, known as One Book, One Community, that are sweeping the country? Click here to learn more about this program, as well as other community-wide campaigns that have sprung up around Riding the Bus With My Sister.
	Contact Information To reach the author, please contact RachelSimon2002 (at) yahoo.com. To invite Rachel to speak, please contact Marc Goldman at Damon Brooks Associates, 1601 Holly Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93036 or e-mail info (at) damonbrooks.com. For technical problems, please e-mail allridge (at) yahoo.com. For media inquiries, please contact the publicity department at PLUME Books 375 Hudson St. 3rd Floor New York, NY 10014
	Press Photos (Caution: These are large files.) Right click here to download a printable version of Rachel's author photo. Note: Photo above by Anne Knoll www.knollphotos.com Right click here to download a printable version of Rachel and Beth's recent photo. Right click here to download a printable version of Rachel and Beth's black and white childhood photo.
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