The Outsiders

The Outsiders is a book that was written by S.E. Hinton, it is considered a young adult fiction. She has written “That was then, This is now”, “Rumble Fish”, “Tex”, “The Puppy Sister” and many more. The time period seems to be taking place in the late 80’s into the mid 90’s. It takes place in a town that is split between two “gangs” the Greasers and the Socs. Also known as the East side and the West side.

In the book the main characters are Ponyboy Curtis, Darry, Dally, Steve and Sodapop. A feud starts when a Socs member threatens to kill Ponyboy. The threat is taken seriously and the Greasers take action to defend Ponyboy. The group of Greasers are like brothers, practically family. They always stick together and fight for each other.

I liked this book because it is interesting. It shows what can happen between gangs, how they feel and what it was like in the time period. Also it shows you how people can handle sticking together when they don’t have anyone else. I think this is a good book and I would recommend reading this and other books written by S.E. Hinton.

Book Review by MJ L.

The Outsiders

The book I read was the outsiders by s.e Hinton. This book is one of the most popular books she has written. This book is set around the late 80s or mid 90s in a town divided between east and west side (just like many towns dealing with gangs now) around summer time is when a massive “war” between two groups happens. There are a lot of points in this book that are made but one of the main ones brought up a lot is that you don’t realize what you have or what it’s worth to you until its gone.

The book the outsiders is bases around the character of Ponyboy Curtis who belongs to a group of Oklahoma teenagers who call themselves the greasers because of the way their hair is long and greasy. One day while walking home from a movie, Ponyboy is ganged up on by a group of Socs, the preppy rich boys from the West Side of town. The Socs gang up on Ponyboy and threaten to kill him. A group of greasers comes and chases the bullies away, saving Ponyboy. Ponyboy’s rescuers include his brother Sodapop, a charming, handsome high-school dropout, and Darry, Ponyboy’s oldest brother and the rest of the greasers who come to Ponyboy’s rescue are Johnny, Dally, Steve, Sodapop’s best friend.

This book tells a story of a huge social division between people almost reminding you of the division because of racism is the early 1950s. This book is an amazing story of how you can overcome the greatest obstacles and toughest times even when others say there is no chance and it really shows you how some situations will end differently than you would ever expect them to. This book can teach kids and even adult the effects that a great division and hatred for other people can cause and how it affects everyone around them.

I recommend this book for everyone because it’s a universal story that can bring anyone to tears but at the same time teach a valuable life lesson. There is no real gender restriction to this book because in some weird way it relates to everyone’s life and will keep you thinking for a while. The book has great detail and almost makes it seem like you were a part of the crazy actions scenes and tough decisions. This book may be one of my favorites simply because it can relates to so much more than anyone would think and is truly the book of its time, and modern day time.

Book Review by Olivia P.

The Outsiders

The book i read was The outsiders by s.e Hinton. This book is one of many books she has written that all have to do with teenage issues and they're all basically set in the 80s to 90s era. This particular book is set around the late 80s or mid 90s in a town split between east and west side .Its maybe mid way through summer and there is a brewing issue between two groups at this time in the book. The main point in this book is you don't know what you have until it's gone and that a normal situation can turn into something a lot different.

there are several main characters in this story so ill just list them for you. First of theres Ponyboy the youngest of the greasers basically the narrator of this whole story. Hes also the most interested in academics and school work than the rest of his friends which makes him the most different. Then theres Darell Ponyboys oldest brother and the parent figure in this story because he has to take care of ponyboy since their parents died in a car crash. Also there's soda pop the second oldest of ponyboys brothers and the better looking one in the family who is envied by the other greasers. Finally theres Johnny the 16 year old best friend of ponyboy who goes through many challenges with ponyboy throughout the whole story. The story is about two groups of people the greasers and the sochs. Greasers are the more hood and poor side of the town but there also the stronger type. Socks are the more preppy and rich side who are more for looks and money than anything else. They are on ongoing battles throughout the story and they get into some very hairy situations in the story. It all ends in a big rumble between the sides with a shocking outcome that you wouldn't believe even if i told you.

           

The book was very interesting and it was one of the very small amount of books that i've read that i liked. It started of slowly but towards the middle it progressed into a very good cliff hanging book with changes at every turn. Its also a very good book to be inspired by because of the story that it tells and what message it's trying to send to the reader.If you enjoy books that leave you there speechless and unable to comprehend what you are reading than this is a good book for you so go and check it out.

Book Review by Leighton H.

The Outsiders

Introduction: The Outsiders By: S.E. Hinton. S.E. Hinton has also written the book called Rumble Fish. The Outsiders talks about a group of friends that are in a gang called the greasers and the other book Rumble Fish isn’t about a gang. The overview of the story The Outsiders is that the author wants to give you the idea not to be in a gang because a lot of bad things happen mainly death. The author wants the readers to do good things in the world because once you do a good thing other good things come back to you for example you help a kid from getting bullied you can possibly get a job.

Summary: There is a gang called Greasers and another gang called the Socs. They hate each other and every time they see each other they fight. One day they meet up again and have a big rivalry against each other and the greasers have always lost a fight against the Socs. Well the Greasers have had enough of getting beat up all the time. Now it was their turn to show the Socs which gang was better! Who really won the fight in the end? Did anybody die during the fight? One sunny warm afternoon Ponyboy was taking a walk to the movies. Usually he goes to the movies with his friends in the car but Ponyboy thought nothing bad would happen to him if he just walked by himself. Suddenly Ponyboy here’s the sound of a car coming slowly at him. He walked a little faster hoping the car would go away but no the car kept following him. Then Ponyboy just stopped walking to see if the car would leave and go somewhere else then all of these Socs would come out of the car Ponyboy started to run but he wasn’t fast enough the Socs had caught him and started beating Ponyboy up. Ponyboy screamed for his friends to come and help him. About a minute later his friends came and grabbed the Socs off of Ponyboy and all the Socs drove off. Everyone asked if Ponyboy was okay he said “yeah I’m fine don’t worry about me”. 

Analysis/Review: if you like action books I recommend for you to read this book! It talks about gang violence and what happens in their lives every day it is very interesting! I rate this book five stars. You need to read this book because if you don’t you are missing out on what of the greatest books that were ever written! Read this book now trust me it’s worth it!

Book Review by Kalessa T.

The Outsiders

The name of the book I read was The Outsiders.  The author of The Outsiders is S.E. Hinton. This story is about a boy and his friend who accidently kill somebody and decide to run away, but it doesn’t work out to much for them.

Ponyboy is a fourteen year boy who lives with his two older brothers Sodapop and Darrel Curtis. Ponyboy and his brothers are greasers. In this story the greasers are in a gang war with the upper class people who live on the west side and have all sorts of money. These people are known as The Socs. The main characters in this story include Ponyboy Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Darrel Curtis, Dallas Winston, Steve Randle, Two-Bit Mathews, and Johnny. Ponyboy is the youngest out of the group, the oldest is his brother, Darrel.

Personally I liked this book because I could really connect with the main character because I am fourteen as well and have older siblings. The author also did a good job on making it easy to visualize what was going on. I extremely recommend this book to people who can handle a little violence and who want a good book to read because this story will give you all of that.

Book Review by Aidan S.

The Outsiders

The book Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about a 14-year-old boy named Ponyboy and the struggles with the gang that he calls “family.” Other books that this author has written was that was then, this is now, rumble fish and taming the star runner.

Two gangs called the Greasers and Socs have a strong hate for  eachother. Two soc girls fall inlove with two grease boys. The socs doesn’t approve of this affair. The two gangs get into a bad situation and stuff goes downhill there read the story to find out more.

I would recommend this book because I myself thought I was a very interesting. I got caught on to this book easy because it got straight to the point unlike some authors that take forever to tell the story, it kept me on edge as to what was happening next like when Johnny killed the soc and ran away I automatically knew something bad was going to happen.

Book Review by Aryon C.

The Outsiders

This book is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. S.E. Hinton has written many books and each one that I have read I have thoroughly enjoyed. She has written books such as: Taming the Star Runner, Tex, Rumble Fish, and Thatwas Then, This is Now. All of her books that tell where the setting is, has been set somewhere in Oklahoma, although not all of them have explained where the story is set. The Outsiders does not tell where it is located, but by the way the story is told, one can assume that it is based in the 1960s. It tells the story about a boy named Ponyboy Curtis, and the gang of “Greasers” he hangs out with. Ponyboy’s parents died years before the book is set, and he is living with his older brother Darry, and his younger brother Sodapop. They all come from a poor home, and live on the East side of town. They associate themselves with a group of boys that stick together, not like a gang, but just a group of friends. The Greasers are in an everlasting battle with the Socs – rich kids from the West side that get all the breaks. The author is telling the story of Ponyboy Curtis, and his struggle as a young boy, a young Greaser. It shows how Ponyboy thinks throughout the entire story – he is the narrator – and just life is like as a Greaser that lives with his two older brothers.

Sodapop is a good-looking, blond-haired boy that is a high school dropout, and works at a local gas station with his best friend, Steve. Darry is the oldest of the Curtis brothers, and Ponyboy thinks he grew up too fast. Darry has been working to take care of the other two boys since their parents died in a car accident. Ponyboy is the youngest of the brothers, he gets good grades, and runs track. He is 14, and he loves sunsets, and he thinks him and Johnny are different than everybody else. The boys that Ponyboy and his brothers’ hangout with are troublesome, at times. There is Dallas Winston, who grew up on the streets of New York. He is a hardened delinquent, and has been in trouble with the police at many times, and he is very proud of it. Two-Bit is a wise-cracking thief. He steals things just because he can, and gets drunk quite a bit. Steve Randal is Sodapop’s best friend since grade school, and works at the local gas station with him; he loves to work on cars. Johnny Cade is 16 years old, and his Ponyboy’s best friend. He lives with his alcoholic mother and father, who beat him regularly.

               

The Greasers and the Socs are in an everlasting battle with each other. The Greasers are a gang of mostly poor and low class teenagers in the story. They live on the East side, put grease in their hair, and mostly carry switchblades. The Socs are a group of kids that live on the West side, they have lots of money, and many believe they get all the breaks. They commonly beat up the Greasers for fun, and love to throw parties. They are more socially accepted than the Greasers, and they get good grades in school.

               

Johnny and Ponyboy both get along great, they love to watch sunsets, and neither one of them care much for fights and trouble. They love to watch movies, and they both get really nervous around girls, especially Soc girls. One night they did manage to pick up Soc girls once, though. That was a mistake that would cost them dearly. All of the teenagers love rumbles; even Ponyboy likes to fight in a rumble. A rumble is a fight between Socs and Greasers, a big fight. Rules are usually set up, such as no weapons, or something similar.

               

The girl that Ponyboy picked up at the movies was a rather interesting girl to him. Her name was Cherry Valence, a Soc cheerleader that he goes to school with. She is not interested in the social levels of the Greasers and the Socs, she sees both sides. Cherry is kinder than the rest of the Socs, especially to Ponyboy and his family. She does care for her reputation, but she does not have any hatred towards the Greasers, and she does not feel as if she is superior to them. She and Ponyboy get along great, she loves to hear about Ponyboy’s family. Ponyboy is very happy to find someone that enjoys sunsets, and he learns that there are problems everywhere, not just on the East side. Pony boy asked Cherry ifshe can see the sunset good on the West side, and she said yes. He told her that he can see it really good on the East side, too.

               

Johnny and Ponyboy develop a very strong friendship throughout the story. They both like to read books, even though Johnny isn’t good at first. Ponyboy learns that Johnny is really smart, once you give him time.

               

I would recommend this book to anyone. It is a very thorough story, it shows lots of detail. The story tells about each and every character, and how all of their relationships are connected to one another. Anyone reading this has to read this book immediately if they have not done so already, it truly is an amazing book. It tells a story about an entire social class, not just the story about one individual. It shows vivid detail through the emotional struggles that both Johnny, and especially Ponyboy face. The plot keeps you hooked through the entire book; and you will get emotionally attached to the characters while reading The Outsiders. The book is very intriguing, and will keep you reading up until the very end. 

Book Review by Joe B.