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Book Review of The Outsiders

The Outsiders
The Outsiders
Author: S. E. Hinton
Genre: Children's Books
Book Type: Paperback
hoopridge avatar reviewed on + 252 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


If you were a teenaged girl in the 1980s, you undoubtably read this book and saw the movie with the all-star cast. Heck, you may have even had a poster with The Outsiders on it in your room next to your Duran Duran and Stray Cats ones.

The story, far from being a fluffy "teen read," is a deep one about class, violence, abandonment, family, and loss. When a lower-class "greaser" kills an upper-class "Soc," he and his friend go on the run, leading to a chain of events that end tragically.

I used to teach this to ninth-grade students and they all loved it, boys and girls included. It's hard to believe the author was only 16 when she wrote it!