A review by cassroberts89
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is fantastic! I can’t believe I never read this (or remember reading it). I grabbed it on a whim and stuck it on my shelf at home. My 13yo grabbed it and devoured it in one day, convincing me to do the same. After a little initial confusion over Darry and Dally being two distinct people, I fell in love with these characters. I got the sense that Hinton had a lot of insight, to be able to write about “greasers” and “socs” with so much authenticity. She does an amazing job capturing that teenage sense of adults-don’t-really-know-anything-that’s-going-on. On the surface it seems like just silly classist squabbles between two different groups of teens, but it’s so much more. They are really more alike than they seem—or than they would like to admit. Greasers unfortunately don’t have much going for them, and socs really have too much.