The Outsiders is a goose bump rising, honorable book that has so much detail, it’s believable. This book screams adventure. S.E. Hinton was an enthusiastic, adolescent, tomboy, and a jock when she wrote this mouth-dropping, eye brow rising book. S.E. Hinton was 15 when she started to write this book and 16 when she finished it. She wrote this book about 2 social classes in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. The rich west side kids are called Socs and the east side hoodlums of Tulsa, Oklahoma are called greasers.
The Outsiders is a book about 6 juvenile delinquent greasers (most of which them dropped out of school). The noiseless narrator, Ponyboy goes on an adventure to Windrixville, Oklahoma. The reason he goes to Windrixville is because his best friend did a shocking thing that nobody thought he would ever do.
Each of the characters are very different. Ponyboy is the one who never talks. Sodapop is a reckless dropout who is Ponyboy’s older brother and works at a D-X station. Darry is an athlete with the buffest muscles ever and also a dropout to protect his younger brother Ponyboy. Two-Bit is the wise-cracker of the group (he’ll never keep his trap shut.) Johnny looks like a lost puppy that has been kicked too many times. He’s Ponyboy’s best friend. The one who did the terrible thing. Dally is the real character of the gang. Dally got arrested at the age of ten. Then that leaves Steve. Steve keeps his hair in complicated swirls and he was always cocky and smart.
This is definitely a book that is hard to put down and I should know because it was for me. The theme of the book is trust. Trust is what keeps the gang together. Especially in Windrixville when Johnny and Ponyboy run away. I would recommend this book to people 12 and up because you have to get what happened in the ‘50’s and the ‘60’s.