The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

Image from Barnes & Noble

Hinton, S.E. The Outsiders. Platinum ed. New York: Speak/ Penguin Group, 2006. Print. ISBN-13: 9780142407332. Paperback. Cost: $10.00.

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 

Annotation:
Ponyboy knows he has a hard life, but takes comfort in the friends he has around him. What happens when his friends aren't around to help?

Mini-review:
Following teenage Ponyboy Curtis and his six close friends, The Outsiders provides a glimpse into the world of these young men, each on the precipice of adulthood in their own way. Labeled “Greasers” by their community because of their looks and the social class they can’t seem to escape, the gang of boys is relentlessly bullied and beaten by a rival group of rich kids from across town called the “Socs” who abuse the opportunities their status gives them. Ponyboy and his friends navigate the challenges set before each of them, depending on one another as they become men living on the outside of society.

The Outsiders is, to my mind, the model young adult novel to compare current coming-of-age novels against. Although The Catcher In the Rye is considered an earlier YA classic, it was written for adults, whereas Hinton wrote The Outsiders as a teenager for teenagers. This makes this book the most accessible of early YA fiction, as we currently understand it. I would recommend this book to any teen that feels apart from their society, who values friendship but does not feel fully connected to those around them. The diverse main characters exist at different points in life that allows anyone to find a character they can relate and connect to, even though Ponyboy is the one focused upon the most. The violence and upheaval of the book only serves as an example of what certain choices could result in for teens in 1967, and can still be learned from today.