The Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton

Penguin Group, 1967, 180 pp., $6.99
ISBN 0-14-038572

The Outsiders sucks SO bad. Not! The Outsiders was written by S.E. Hinton, when she was only 14 years old. The Outsiders is a book about a 14-year-old boy, named Ponyboy Curtis, who lives on the east side of town.  Ponyboy is in a gang called the Greasers. The rival gangs of the greasers are the Socs, or also called the Socials. The socs live on the east side of town. They don’t get along with each other because if one gang starts something, the other gang has to finish it. The Socs get in a big fight with the greasers over their territory.  Sodapop drops out of school because he thought that he was dumb.

The Greasers have a distinguished look about them. They wear jeans, jackets or a leather Jacket. Their hair is greasy because that is their trademark. The Socs have nice clothes, and go to the movies.  The members of the Greaser gang are Ponyboy, Sodapop, Two-Bit, Darry, Dally, and Johnny.  The three main members of the Socials (Socs) that you will meet are Cherry Valance, Randy Adderson and Bob Sheldon.

I think the themes of this book are bravery, loyalty, friendship, love, and being trustworthy to your friends and family. I think the conflicts of the book are that the two gangs are always fighting with each other and they don’t want to stop until some one gets their way. I think S.E. Hinton wrote this book from the things she saw. This book shows what it would have been like if we were in their place at the time, It also shows new ways about dealing with things but don’t do it EVER!   I also think that Johnny was being brave when he saved those kids from the fire because he risked his own life. He thought about someone other than his own self.

For readers who like a lot of fighting, love, bravery, and friendship, this book is totally yours. Also for readers who like to find out what fighting would be like then this book is also for you. This book can teach lessons like being loyal to your friends and having their back in bad situations like the rumble. To love each other even though one person hates the other person in the family. Another lesson is to be a good friend even though you might not like their friends or family.

~ reviewed by Sharupa