Review: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Title: The Outsiders 
Author: S.E. Hinton 
Format: Paperback, 20th Anniversary Edition 
Source: Paperback Swap











Synopsis from the author's website:

According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser.

My Thoughts: 
I think we've all at least heard of, if not read, The Outsiders. In some schools, it was a mandatory read. Unfortunately for me, it was not, which is why I haven't read it until now. It's one of those books that I had to read because everyone else had. I wanted to be apart of that club.

This book packs quite a punch for being only 156 pages long. Ponyboy, SodaPop and Darry are brothers just trying to survive since the death of their parents. Darry and Sodapop want nothing more than for their youngest brother to make it to college, something they never got the chance to do. The three brothers are part of the Greasers gang. All hell breaks loose when one of the Socs, their rival gang, almost kills Ponyboy. Ponyboy and his best friend Johnny have to run away from town, their families and most importantly the cops. This book takes us through Ponyboy's journey of drama, turmoil, tragedy and loss. Most importantly, we watch as Ponyboy truly finds himself.

The best thing about this book is that it's timeless. It was written in the 60s but still its message still holds strong and true in today's day and age. We are still dealing with, and battling, the same social dilemmas.

When I read a book and it intrigues me (and The Outsiders did just that) I go digging. I have to find out more about the author: Why did they write the book? What made them write the book? I was amazed to find out that the book was written by a teenage girl, S.E. (Susan Eloise) Hinton, and that it was her first published book. She wrote it back in 1965 when she was 15 years old. She used her initials instead of her name because the publishers felt that readers and critics wouldn't read a book about teenage boys written by a girl. She has since stuck with using her initials for her work to keep her professional life separated from her personal life. She is a very private person and has done such a good job at doing so that you really can't find much more about her other than she likes horses.

The Outsiders was made into a movie, that I'm sure most have seen. I am probably one of the few people who have not yet seen the movie but I definitely plan to.

The Book Vixen's Rating:

Author Website