The Outsiders

Author: S.E. Hinton
Year Published: 1967
Publisher: Viking Penguin
ISBN#: 014038572x
Pages: 180
Media Type: Book
Subject: Family, Gangs
Genre: Drama
Reader's Annotation:
An impassioned teenage author tells it like it is with the long-haired kids from the wrong side of the tracks.

Plot Summary:
Ponyboy Curtis belongs to a lower-class group of Oklahoma youths who call themselves greasers because of their greasy long hair. Walking home from a movie, Ponyboy is attacked by a group of Socs, the greasers' rivals, who are upper-class youths from the West Side of town. The Socs, short for Socials, gang up on Ponyboy and threaten to slit his throat. A group of greasers comes and chases the bullies away, saving Ponyboy. There are a lot of violent scenes from all the fights between the groups. In the end of the book, Ponyboy wakes up in bed at home. He has suffered a concussion from a kick to the head at the rumble and has been delirious in bed for several days. When he is well, he attends his hearing, where the judge treats him kindly and acquits him of responsibility for Bob's death. The court rules that Ponyboy will be allowed to remain at home with Darry. For a time, Ponyboy feels listless and empty. His grades slip, he feels hostile to Darry, and he loses his appetite. At last, Sodapop tells Ponyboy that he (Sodapop) is angry and frustrated because of the tension at home. He tearfully asks that Ponyboy and Darry stop fighting. Finally understanding the value of his family, Ponyboy agrees not to fight with Darry anymore. He finds that for the first time he can remember Dally's and Johnny's deaths without pain or denial. He decides to tell their story and begins writing a term paper for his English class, which turns out to be the novel itself.
Reading Level: 4
Interest Level: 7-12
Awards Won:
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