The Outsiders
The Outsiders
By: S.E Hinton
The Outsiders was one of those books for me that meant more than just the story I was reading. After finding out the author was sixteen when she wrote it was incredibly inspiring to me. Any teen wishing to write should hear her story. She wanted to write about greasers because she felt they had a bad reputation and she used a pseudonym because she felt she wouldn’t be accepted as a female writer. The main fact that inspired me has always been her young age at which she wrote this.
Of course, I wouldn’t recommend a book just because of the author as this was a very intriguing story. If my memory serves me well I read this in one sitting (something I haven’t been able to do for years). It centers on a group of teenagers known as greasers. They smoke, have gel in their hair and leather jackets, and usually no paren'ts or at the least abusive ones. The main character is Ponyboy who lives with his older brother. He has a very tough life being raised by his older brother, as well as the other greasers. After Sodapop and Johnny are pushed to the limits by an opposing group and do something unthinkable they have to hide out. They are helped out by another greaser named Dallas who is in my mind is the most interesting character in the book. He’s tough and violent but has a soft spot for the abused and traumatized Johnny. The characters face incredible challenges in their lives for people so young. Outsiders isn’t the greatest book I’ve ever read but it is one of the grittiest. It features everything from class struggles that boil over and explode into a horrible fight, to a Romeo and Juliet type love affair (star crossed lovers, so to speak). And even though it was written forty years ago it is still relevant and definitely one of my favourite books for teens.
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