Awards:
- New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, 1967
- Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967
- Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975
- ALA Best Young Adult Books, 1975
- Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, 1979
S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders seems to be required reading for most U.S. high school students. Set in the mid 1960s, the story follows Ponyboy and his gang of friends and brothers while they grapple with being young, poor, and directionless. The conflict between the Greasers and the Socs is a somewhat forced representation of the socio-economic clash felt in many areas throughout the country - the kids from the wrong side of the tracks versus the preppy, rich ones. After tensions reach a breaking point between the two gangs and a tragic accident upturns the Greaser's world, Ponyboy is left to face the chaos and decide what he wants out of life. Stay gold, Ponyboy.
Hinton wrote the book when she was a teenager and it is laughably obvious at points - why else would every male character in the story be described as more handsome than the last? - but it is also this perspective that has allowed The Outsiders to become a YA classic, still feeling very relevant to teens today. After first reading The Outsiders in ninth grade, I've probably reread it about a dozen times and have sobbed during each and every one of them. The characters are interesting, the story is heart-wrenching, and every teen (and adult) should be familiar with The Outsiders because it offers a humanizing and sympathetic glimpse into the life of a teenager growing up in a troubled environment. This book should be in every public and school library, without exceptions.
Although no where near as good as the book, the movie is pretty rad, too.
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