book review on the outsiders

Advertisement

Supported by

Why ‘The Outsiders’ Lives On: A Teenage Novel Turns 50

• Share full article

By Hayley Krischer

• March 12, 2017

TULSA, Okla. — On a particularly windy day in the Crutchfield neighborhood here, the writer S. E. Hinton was touring the renovations of the future Outsiders House museum. The rundown Craftsman bungalow was where the Curtis brothers — Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy — lived in the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola movie based on Ms. Hinton’s book “The Outsiders.”

The book, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, was arguably one of the most influential young adult books of its time, and leading this tour was the self-described fanboy Danny O’Connor, 48, who made his own contribution to pop-culture history as a member of the 1990s hip-hop group House of Pain.

Mr. O’Connor, who lives in Beverly Hills, Calif., bought the Outsiders House for $15,000 in 2016, determined to turn it into a museum. During the recent tour, Mr. O’Connor was showing Ms. Hinton a first-edition hard cover of “The Outsiders,” pointing out a wide paper sash wrapped around the jacket that read in bright orange, “A remarkable novel about teenagers, for teenagers, by a teenager.”

Mr. O’Connor has been on a quest to find artifacts to include in the museum, amassing a collection of memorabilia from the movie, vintage photographs and hard-to-find editions of the book. Next on his search list, he told Ms. Hinton, 68, was a claw-foot tub like the one 18-year-old Rob Lowe (Sodapop Curtis in the movie) stepped out of with just a towel wrapped around his waist.

“All the girls love that scene,” Mr. O’Connor said.

No matter that the book is 50 years old, or that the movie was filmed in this part of town more than three decades ago. Once you’re a fan of “The Outsiders,” you’re always a fan of “The Outsiders,” which is why when Mr. O’Connor posted about the tub on Facebook , it was shared over 220 times. Soon there will be a tub.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

PG-13: Risky Reads

Rich kids, greasers and the life-changing power of 'the outsiders'.

Ally Carter

The Outsiders

Buy featured book.

Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?

• Independent Bookstores

Ally Carter is the author of the Gallagher Girls series and Heist Society .

Teenage girls read in packs. It's true today, and it was true when I was a teen growing up in a small town in northeast Oklahoma. Battered paperback copies swept through our ranks like wildfire, but the one I will never forget is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

One by one, each of my friends became obsessed with the story of a group of boys from the wrong side of the tracks in Tulsa, a city that was just 60 miles away but might as well have been on the other side of the world from the rural Oklahoma that we knew so well.

Of course, now I know that The Outsiders is an American classic, that millions of teens have been devouring it for decades, but at the time it felt like we had discovered it — that it was our book. A secret. I was one of the more reluctant readers of my group of friends, but there was something about this book that made me both sad it was over and eager to read it again. And yet the true impact The Outsiders had on my life had very little to do with those conversations with my friends. Instead, it came from an offhand comment from my father.

"You know she's from Tulsa, don't you?" he asked one day when it was my turn to drag that paperback copy home.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but at the time I hadn't realized that S.E. was a woman. And I had never dreamed that she was actually from Tulsa — just an hour's drive away. And when I found out that she'd been a teenager when she wrote this book that my friends and I loved so much, something inside me clicked. A light went on, and from that point on, I couldn't get enough.

Over the next few weeks, I read more of her books. I devoured That Was Then, This Is No w. I made my parents buy me a Siamese fighting fish when I finished Rumble Fish .

Ally Carter is also the author of the upcoming book Perfect Scoundrels. Shevaun Williams hide caption

But the bigger impact lasted far after my pack moved on to other fare.

My father's words stayed with me

S.E. Hinton was a girl about my age. She was from my state. And she had created this story — pulled it out of thin air and made it come alive.

It was easy to believe, between lessons on Shakespeare and Dickens and Austen, that all of the great stories had already been written by dead Europeans. But every time I saw The Outsiders , I knew better. It was the first time I'd realized that real people write books. Not only that — I realized that real people who were like me wrote books.

And if she could do that, I could do that.

And that made all the difference.

PG-13 is produced and edited by the team at NPR Books.

• Middle School
• High School
• College & Admissions
• Social Life
• Health & Sexuality
• Stuff We Love

• Meet the Team
• Our Advisory Board
• In the News
• Write for Your Teen
• Campus Visits
• Teen College Life
• Paying for College
• Teen Dating
• Teens and Friends
• Mental Health
• Drugs & Alcohol
• Physical Health
• Teen Sexuality
• Communication
• Celebrity Interviews

Book Review For Teens: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

S.E. Hinton’s classic coming of age novel is just as relevant to this ninth-grader today as it was when his mom read it in high school.

PARENT REVIEW |  Kristin O’Keefe

I was a little hesitant to reread S.E. Hinton’s  The Outsiders , a book I first discovered and loved as a teenager myself. What if it didn’t hold up?

Thankfully, aside from some dated slang words, the novel still rings as true today as when Hinton wrote it in 1967. Our narrator/hero is Ponyboy, the youngest in his gang of Greasers. The gang includes his brothers Darry and Soda, as well as Steve, Two-Bit, Dally, and Johnny.

The gang’s rivals are the Socs, short for “Socials.” Ponyboy notes their power: “You can’t win against them no matter how hard you try, because they’ve got all the breaks and even whipping them isn’t going to change that fact.” The Socs have their own problems, though—Cherry Valance admits her group can be “cool to the point of not feeling anything, always searching for something to satisfy us and never finding it.”

Many of the characters in this book exhibit a restlessness, a sense that they’re going to explode if something doesn’t happen. There is a confrontation, and things take an unexpected turn.

S.E. Hinton helps readers see beyond the Greasers’ hair and lifestyles and understand that decency is not the purview of one particular class.

Rather, decency and kindness lie with people who make the choice to do the right thing.

I was also struck by how much the 17-year-old author understood the importance of family. The saddest character is the one whose parents don’t seem to care or know he exists. In contrast, Ponyboy comes to realize that his oldest brother Darry’s strictness is an outgrowth of his worry and love for his sibling.

Hinton said she wrote  The Outsiders  because she wanted something realistic to be written about teenagers, not just another prom or horse story. Hopefully her success inspires other teenagers to look for stories that feel real to them—and if they can’t find those stories, maybe write their own.

Kristin O’Keefe’s work has appeared in Your Teen, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Grown and Flown, and Scary Mommy. She’s currently at work on her first novel; you can also find her on Twitter @_KristinOKeefe and Facebook at Kristin O’Keefe, writer. 

TEEN REVIEW | Charlie O’Keefe

The Outsiders  by S.E. Hinton is definitely one of my favorite books. It’s pretty short, so it’s a quick read, but it packs a lot in. I first read it in seventh grade and have read it two more times since then.

The book is about a group of lower-class boys called “Greasers” who are constantly being mistreated and abused by a group of upper-class boys, who are known as the “Socs.” A violent rivalry results in constant fighting, and the Greaser Johnny is forced to kill a Soc to save fellow Greaser Ponyboy’s life. From that point on, the book is about the two friends running away as fugitives and the aftermath that follows.

I think it’s interesting how the book portrays different classes of society and the conflict between them. Also, I liked the smaller theme of “everybody’s got something.” Regardless of social class, nobody’s perfect and you never know what‘s going on in someone else’s life, like when Cherry, the leader of the female Socs, tells Ponyboy that the Socs have their problems, too. I also love the theme of family, and seeing Ponyboy’s relationships with his brothers change throughout the book. He was different from his brothers, and towards the end of the book the oldest brother, Darry, started to accept that.

Overall, T he Outsiders  is a great book that’s definitely worth reading. There’s some violence and death, but you really feel like you know the characters—and for a short book, it has a lot going on.

I still can’t believe S.E. Hinton wrote this in high school.

Charlie O’Keefe is in ninth grade at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland. 

Kristin O’Keefe is a freelance writer who is also working on a satirical novel about a modern day fairy godmother. Kristin has written for  The New York Times, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, Grown and Flown  and  Scary Mommy.  Find her on Twitter @_KristinOKeefe and Facebook at Kristin O’Keefe, writer. 

Books of Brilliance

The latest book reviews and book news.

Classic Novel

The Outsiders: Book Review

The Outsiders book review

Ponyboy Curtis is a name that will get recognition in most discussions about books. And if it doesn’t, then you need to leave right away. He is the protagonist in S. E. Hinton’s debut novel The Outsiders and part of most school curriculums. Keep reading to find out why you should give this iconic novel a read!

The Outsiders Sumamry

As Ponyboy Curtis exits the movie theater and heads home, he is approached by the Socs , the rival gang of the Greasers , the gang that Ponyboy is a part of. Badly outnumbered, Ponyboy tries to fight back and is saved by members of the greasers, including his older brothers Sodapop and Darry , the parent figure of the family.

The next night, Ponyboy goes to a drive-in movie theater with the tough-skinned Dally and the shy and quiet Johnny . The latter is viewed as a little brother by everyone in the gang. The group meets two Soc girls and Ponyboy realizes that the Socs don’t have it as great as he once thought. He is finally able to relate to a Socs and sees how similar they both are.

The night takes a turn for the worst when the trio runs into a group of Socs. Cherry , one of the girls that the group met, plays peacemaker. Ponyboy finally arrives home, past his curfew and his oldest brother Darry yells at him for being recklessly late. The anger by Darry seems unfair to Ponyboy who believes that Darry has become cold since their parents died in a car accident and runs away.

Ponyboy   meets up with Johnny and they hang out but once again, the Socs find them and have them outnumbered. What happens next changes the course of everyone’s life as things get out of control. Now, Ponyboy is on the run from the cop and fears he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison. 

I remember reading The Outsiders in school and that was one of the first times a reading assignment didn’t feel like an assignment. We were assigned a certain number of pages to read but I ended up finishing the book in a few sittings. 

Nowadays, I try to incorporate it into my reading list here and there. This is one of my favorite novels to read and I still can’t believe S. E. Hinton wrote in while she was still in high school! This novel was a gateway to other novels by her which I enjoyed a lot. She is an amazing author and someone I am very grateful to. 

The novel was inspired by events that happened around Hinton. That is why the book feels so authentic at times. As the reader, the characters feel relatable. This may be the one of the best novels to get students interested in reading. It worked for me and for millions of other people.

 Conclusion

Before the young adult took off in the 2000’s, we had S. E. Hinton and Ponyboy. Hopefully students still read this great novel and can’t find buried beneath The Hunger Games and Harry Potter , both novels that are also amazingly written. We are allowed to have multiple favorite novels and The Outsiders will always be a favorite of mine. 

Follow us on  Instagram  and  Facebook  

Share this:, 16 thoughts on “ the outsiders: book review ”.

Add Comment

I read it in middle school as well and just loved it. I still have my original copy from all those years ago. And you are 100% right. It was an assignment that didn’t feel like an assignment.

Yup. Probably one of the best books to read for school ever!

• Pingback: Hawkes Harbor: Book Review - Books of Brilliance
• Pingback: The Fault in Our Stars: Book Review - Books of Brilliance
• Pingback: YA is Not Just a Genre - Books of Brilliance
• Pingback: The 10 Best Books that You Should Reread  
• Pingback: Classic Novels That You Should Read  
• Pingback: 7 Books That Everyone Should Read At Least Once in Their Lives 
• Pingback: The Best Selling Books of the First Half of 2023!
• Pingback: The 35 Best Classics That You Should Read

Is this some cheesy attempt to sell a book by listing it with renowned books?

• Pingback: 25 Classics that You Must Read
• Pingback: 25 Classics that You Must Read - Books of Brilliance
• Pingback: 10 Essential Books to Read - Books of Brilliance
• Pingback: 30 Classics that You Must Read - Books of Brilliance

Read The Outsiders for grade eight English. Your review took me back a lot of years.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Book Review

The outsiders.

• S.E. Hinton
• Coming-of-Age

• Viking Children's Books, an imprint of Penguin Group
• New York Herald TribuneBest Teenage Books List, 1967;Chicago TribuneBook World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967; Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975; American Library Association Best Young Adults Books, 1975; and Massachusetts Children's Book Award, 1979

Year Published

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Ponyboy Curtis has seen a lot in his 14 years. His parents are dead, and now he lives with his older brothers, Soda and Darry. They’re all “greasers,” underprivileged kids who are known for fighting and for wearing their hair slicked back. They fight with the wealthy “socs” who seem to have it all. When Ponyboy’s friend Johnny accidentally kills a soc named Bob, the murder sets off a chain of troubling and violent events for the greasers. But through the turmoil, Ponyboy has heart-to-heart talks with some of Bob’s soc friends, and he realizes that the greasers and socs aren’t as different as he once thought.

Christian Beliefs

Johnny and Ponyboy hide out in an abandoned church. While there, Ponyboy recalls how he and Johnny used to go to church regularly until some of the gang joined them one Sunday and made a scene. They never went back.

Other Belief Systems

Authority roles.

Twenty-year-old Darry has sacrificed his dream of college to serve as the sole parent for his younger teenage brothers. He works long hours to support them and would do anything to protect them. He insists Ponyboy keep his curfew and maintain good grades, but he also permits the boys to smoke, fight and engage in a number of other questionable and unsafe behaviors. The boys’ deceased parents are remembered as loving individuals. Jerry Wood and Mr. Syme, both teachers, are the adult characters in the story, and both demonstrate their belief that Ponyboy is something more than a worthless thug.

Profanity & Violence

Although the author implies frequent profanity, she stops short of actually using it. The greasers and the socs regularly fight one another, often beating each other. They draw blood, inflict deep wounds and concussions and even kill.

Sexual Content

Ponyboy says he knows what goes on in bedrooms during parties. Darry insinuates that Soda’s girlfriend left town because she was pregnant and Soda was hurt to learn it wasn’t his child.

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Many underage characters in the book use alcohol and drugs, shoplift, fight (sometimes with weapons), cheat, lie and have criminal records. Most smoke habitually. Ponyboy says it’s calming, and he and others display behaviors when they can’t smoke that reveal their nicotine addictions. Dally Winston, a tough greaser who loves Johnny like a brother, purposely threatens police with an empty gun so they will fire on him. His desperate death is essentially a suicide.

In 1988 the author won the Margaret Alexander Edwards Award for her contribution to books for young adults.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

Latest Book Reviews

Oliver’s Great Big Universe: Volcanoes Are Hot! (Big Universe Series #2)

Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II

The Mystery of Locked Rooms

The Book of Bill

Lonely Castle in the Mirror

Grief in the Fourth Dimension

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

Want to stay Plugged In?

Our weekly newsletter will keep you in the loop on the biggest things happening in entertainment and technology. Sign up today, and we’ll send you a chapter from the new Plugged In book, Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family , that focuses on how to implement a “screentime reset” in your family!

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Parents' Ultimate Guide to Generative AI

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

The outsiders.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 33 Reviews
• Kids Say 294 Reviews

Parents Say

Based on 33 parent reviews

Parent Reviews

A good book, but a bit dated, report this review.

This title has:

• Too much violence
• Too much drinking/drugs/smoking

Outstanding Novel! Touches the hearts of youth.

• Educational value
• Great messages

Amazing book, would recommend! (Teen, Age 14)

Timeless coming of age story.

• Great role models

A very good read for any reader

The outsiders-short read but worth it, what to read next.

Rumble Fish

Related Topics

• Cats, Dogs, and Mice
• High School

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

• ADMIN AREA MY BOOKSHELF MY DASHBOARD MY PROFILE SIGN OUT SIGN IN

• Perspectives

Appreciations: S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders :

The classic novel hits the half-century mark.

BY Gregory McNamee • April 27, 2017

We humans are tribal people, organizing ourselves into bands and clans that divide the world into us and them, self and other: Goths. Bloods. Rotarians. Where blood is not the basis, something else becomes the point of division: a haircut or tattoo, a band or political issue. And for all our talk of the oneness of humankind, we seem to thrive on making such distinctions.

Theodore Geisel, Dr. Seuss, got it right in his prescient story from 1953, The Sneetches , in which curious yellow creatures follow an apartheid based on whether they sport green stars in their navels. A dozen years later, about the time Seuss’ first readers were approaching young adulthood, Susan Eloise Hinton, herself a teenager, began writing a story with echoes of Romeo and Juliet by way of West Side Story and of Lord of the Flies alike, recounting the clash between tribes in the rough and tumble of Oklahoma.

“I am a greaser,” says Sodapop, one hero of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders . “I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!” There’s no Officer Krupke as a foil, but Sodapop’s self-mockery speaks to the way straight-and-narrow Tulsans view his kind, kids who hang out in machine shops and garages with cigarettes rolled up in their sleeves, kids whose only path out of the grittier part of town is the Army or prison.

Published on April 24, 1967, The Outsiders was an immediate hit. I read it when it first came out in paperback, about the time I began to sort out what my own tribe might be. (Its members smoked pot, drank good coffee, opposed the war, and read poetry.) The book has since come under regular assault from censorious civilians who wish to see it banned from schools and libraries for its language, its forbidden substances, its uncompromising look at the violence disaffected young people can and do commit. But it remains in print 50 years on, changing the lives of its readers, truly a modern classic and well-deserving of that name.

Gregory McNamee is a contributing editor.

• Seen & Heard Memoir by Dancer Allison Holker Coming in 2025

• Book to Screen Amazon Drops Trailer for New ‘Cross’ Series

• Seen & Heard Julia Roberts To Narrate Presley Audiobook

• Perspectives Toxic Family Memoirs: It’s a Long Shelf

Our Take On This Week's Bestsellers

Our Verdict

More Perspectives

Featured Interviews

• podcast Episode 391: Rumaan Alam

• podcast Episode 390: Garth Greenwell

• podcast Episode 389: Devika Rege

• podcast Episode 388: Best September Books With Danzy Senna

• podcast Episode 387: Gayle Forman

The Magazine: Kirkus Reviews

Featuring 306 industry-first reviews of fiction, nonfiction, children’s, and YA books; also in this issue: interviews with Mary L. Trump, Tony Tulathimutte, and David Almond; and more

The Kirkus Star

One of the most coveted designations in the book industry, the Kirkus Star marks books of exceptional merit.

The Kirkus Prize

The Kirkus Prize is among the richest literary awards in America, awarding $50,000 in three categories annually.

Great Books & News Curated For You

Be the first to read books news and see reviews, news and features in Kirkus Reviews . Get awesome content delivered to your inbox every week.

• Discover Books Fiction Thriller & Suspense Mystery & Detective Romance Science Fiction & Fantasy Nonfiction Biography & Memoir Teens & Young Adult Children's
• News & Features Bestsellers Book Lists Profiles Perspectives Awards Seen & Heard Book to Screen Kirkus TV videos In the News
• Kirkus Prize Winners & Finalists About the Kirkus Prize Kirkus Prize Judges
• Magazine Current Issue All Issues Manage My Subscription Subscribe
• Writers’ Center Hire a Professional Book Editor Get Your Book Reviewed Advertise Your Book Launch a Pro Connect Author Page Learn About The Book Industry
• More Kirkus Diversity Collections Kirkus Pro Connect My Account/Login
• About Kirkus History Our Team Contest FAQ Press Center Info For Publishers
• Privacy Policy
• Terms & Conditions
• Reprints, Permission & Excerpting Policy

© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Popular in this Genre

Hey there, book lover.

We’re glad you found a book that interests you!

Please select an existing bookshelf

Create a new bookshelf.

We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!

Please sign up to continue.

It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!

Already have an account? Log in.

Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.

Almost there!

• Industry Professional

Welcome Back!

Sign in using your Kirkus account

Contact us: 1-800-316-9361 or email [email protected].

Don’t fret. We’ll find you.

Magazine Subscribers ( How to Find Your Reader Number )

If You’ve Purchased Author Services

Don’t have an account yet? Sign Up.

Lady In Read Writes

A blog(ful) of niches, book review: the outsiders.

One of my favorite guest posters (well, one of only two guest posters so far!) is back! This is my 14 yo’s review of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Both my kids had to read the book as part of their middle school required reading, and both of them enjoyed the read. This is my daughter’s take on the book.

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support. For further information, you can see the  full disclosure.

The Book Review

The outsiders.

Title : The Outsiders Author : S.E. Hinton Publishers : Puffin Books Pub Date: September 1st 1997 Genre : Teen and YA Age-Range : 12 and older Source : Home library

Goodreads  ||  Book Depository || Target || Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

Description

“…the hand at the back of my neck was strong.  I’m drowning , I thought… “

The Socs’ idea of having a good time of beating up Greasers like Ponyboy. Ponyboy knows what to expect and knows he can count on his brothers and friends – until the night someone takes things too far.

A ground-breaking, timeless story from a brilliant writer.

(Not) My Thoughts

Note: Today’s guest poster – my 14 yo.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton revolves around Ponyboy and his group of friends. They all live in the lower class areas and are called the greasers. Their rival gang who lives in the richer parts are called the Socs. The Socs constantly jump (attack) the greasers if they are alone.

The story starts off with Ponyboy walking alone from the movie theater, he sees a car approaching and realizes that the Socs were in the car. He starts to run but they catch up to him quickly. They start to violently attack him but before they could finish, Pony’s friends arrive to help him and scare away the Socs. This part of the story shows that the Socs didn’t really have any motive to attack him but did anyway just because of who he was and where he lived.

The story also perceives the Greasers as very violent and whenever they would try to report what the Socs have done 1. It isn’t as important to the police since they are lower class 2. They didn’t want to get jumped more by the Socs if any of them got arrested.

Pony lives with his two older brothers – Darry and Sodapop. Sodapop and Pony are legally allowed to live with Darry(who is 20) but if any of them get in trouble they can’t anymore; that is another reason why they can’t report anything that the Socs did.

The book did make me cry at some points but overall I liked the ending and all of the characters. 

(Now) My Thoughts

I am yet to read this one, though I have read parts of it when the kids needed me to quiz them about the book. And based on the bits and pieces I have read, I recall that I enjoyed the book and my own review of the book would definitely have been a positive one.

Learning that this book was written by Hinton when she was a teenager (which of course my teens already knew!) added to my admiration for this book, and I am planning to read it properly- soon (and then watch the movie too, which I have not – yet)

My guest reviewer rates it a 9/10! A classic read that has withstood the test of time, and rightfully so. It is already in most school libraries and definitely belongs on the bookshelf at homes too!

(As for our copy, looks like it is stuck in quarantine mode in the classroom!)

Get It Here

  Book Depository || Target || Barnes and Noble || IndieBound

Would You Rather

Today’s WYR

Would you rather read the last chapter in a book first or watch the movie before reading the book?

If I had to choose between these two, I would rather watch the movie than reading the last chapter. I know I have not felt good when I look at those last few lines or pages of a book even accidentally, and I have not tended to read a book for a long time(or sometimes at all) once I watch the movie.

For instance, we just finished watching the Michael B.Jordan and Jamie Foxx starrer movie Just Mercy last night – a truly brilliant movie based on a true story of the same title by Bryan Stevenson (portrayed by Jordan in the movie). I will hold off on reading this book (though I do want to read it now) as it is bound to be a heavy read, and I know I will find myself in tears at many points of the book.

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, have you read this book? If yes, your thoughts on the book and any similar recommendations?

Linking up to the  Ultimate Blog Challenge  

For previous posts, click on the links below:

Day_1   Day_2   Day_3   Day_4   Day_5   Day_6   Day_7   Day_8   Day_9   Day_10   Day_11   Day_12   Day_13   Day_14 Day_15

11 thoughts on “ Book Review: The Outsiders ”

I would rather watch the movie first, than read the last chapter. But I have done that, and it never works out well. I get bored with the book because I already know what’s going to happen. I have neither read nor seen The Outsiders. I try to avoid anything with violence.

I read this book in middle school and haven’t read it since. Maybe it is time for another read. Recently the play was presented here locally and Ponyboy was a girl character. I don’t know how that worked out, but I have heard it was good. I also wonder if there are groups called “Socs” anymore, which we had in high school *(pronounced like an abbreciation for SOCIAL – Soshes”

Very thoughtful review!

One of these days I will read this book. I think I would rather watch the movie then to read the last chapter of any book. I actually I have never done that.

So happy your guest reviewer liked it as much as I did at that age. 😉

I read this many years ago and so did my sons when they were teenagers. The movie was really good too.I named one of my cats The Outsider because he was always treated like one from the other cats.

Ah, I totally forgot about this book. Like another commenter, I don’t think I read this book since middle school!

Great review from your child – what a great addition during social distancing.

I remember reading this while sitting my in high school English class and feeling my heart break and hiding my tears.

I’ve never read this book but can see why its a classroom staple. The themes of violence and class, people being treated differently because of their status or label, really resonates with life today (unfortunately) and so its really great they are encouraging kids to read and explore this at a younger age.

I really want to read this before I watch it

This is a great classic! I’m sure I read it many years ago, and it is nice to read about it again since I didn’t remember it very well.

This was one of my favorite books to read in school and I still enjoy both the book and movie today!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

 Yes, add me to your mailing list

By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. *

Notify me of new posts by email.

UK Edition Change

• UK Politics
• News Videos
• Paris 2024 Olympics
• Rugby Union
• Sport Videos
• John Rentoul
• Mary Dejevsky
• Andrew Grice
• Sean O’Grady
• Photography
• Theatre & Dance
• Culture Videos
• Fitness & Wellbeing
• Food & Drink
• Health & Families
• Royal Family
• Electric Vehicles
• Car Insurance Deals
• Lifestyle Videos
• Hotel Reviews
• News & Advice
• Simon Calder
• Australia & New Zealand
• South America
• C. America & Caribbean
• Middle East
• Politics Explained
• News Analysis
• Today’s Edition
• Home & Garden
• Broadband deals
• Fashion & Beauty
• Travel & Outdoors
• Sports & Fitness
• Climate 100
• Sustainable Living
• Climate Videos
• Solar Panels
• Behind The Headlines
• On The Ground
• Decomplicated
• You Ask The Questions
• Binge Watch
• Travel Smart
• Watch on your TV
• Crosswords & Puzzles
• Most Commented
• Newsletters
• Ask Me Anything
• Virtual Events
• Wine Offers
• Betting Sites

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in

The Outsiders by SE Hinton, book of a lifetime: A powerful feeling of hope

Se hinton's novel - which she wrote when she was only 19-years-old - was the first proper book matt haig read without parental or teacher endorsement, article bookmarked.

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails, thanks for signing up to the breaking news email.

I have various books that mean a lot to me. But The Outsiders, a tale of a gang of American kids from the wrong side of the tracks, was a book that comforted me at various points in my life. When I first read it I was about 13, and having a not particularly great time at school and so the book became a kind of friend to me. I would read about all these characters with ridiculously strange names – Ponyboy Curtis, Dallas, Cherry, and Sodapop – and feel like they were my friends too. Ponyboy, in particular, as the first-person narrator,

This is not the best written book in the world, and nor is it saying the most (though re-reading it recently it does have a lot to say politically, about how socio-economic divides shape the lives of young people), but what it has is a powerful feeling of hope coupled with a beautifully sentimental sense of life. This might have something to do with the fact that SE Hinton was only 19-years-old when she wrote it, and it might also be to do with the love of literature that infuses the book.

Ponyboy is not exactly an academic boy, but while he and his friend Johnny are on the run, after Johnny has accidentally killed a boy from another gang, Ponyboy gains comfort from reading Gone With the Wind and Robert Frost.

Most people in this country probably know The Outsiders as a film, rather than a book. But Francis Ford Coppola's film, for me, while gorgeous and well-acted (featuring then unknowns Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon and Patrick Swayze) doesn't have the same emotional value as the book. In part that's because this novel was the first proper book I had read that wasn't being read because of parental or teacher endorsement. It didn't feel like it was there to do me good – though it did – and was at least as entertaining as any film or piece of music could be.

When I fell ill with a severe case of depression and anxiety in my twenties, struggling to find a reason to cope with the pain and to stay alive, I re-read this book. It was one of the few things I was able to concentrate on. It took me back to my younger, healthier self and that American sense of hope was like medicine. Books were one of the things that saved me, and this felt a kind of therapy. It's one of those I like to keep close by, like a life-raft, for future storms.

Matt Haig's new book is 'A Boy Called Christmas' (Canongate)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

New to The Independent?

Or if you would prefer:

Hi {{indy.fullName}}

• My Independent Premium
• Account details
• Help centre

The Outsiders

By s. e. hinton.

'The Outsiders' is an excellent book by S. E. Hinton, though The Outsiders' many social and moral lessons are pretty old. Yet, its freshness remains and continues to motivate many writers.

Article written by Ugo Juliet

Former Lecturer. Author of multiple books. Degree from University Of Nigeria, Nsukka.

‘ The Outsiders ‘ is a youth novel by S. E. Hinton published in 1967. Ponyboy Curtis and his gang of greasers regularly fight with another gang, the upper-class Socs. Ponyboy learns valuable lessons about family, unity, friendship, and goodness and is affiliated with a group when a Greaser kills a Soc.

‘ The Outsiders ‘ is one of the books that made people believe and start reading juvenile fiction, or what the publishing industry refers to as young adult fiction. People learned that juvenile fiction could go beyond dating and courtesy topics and move to address real issues with depth and nuance. Hinton’s work has proved to people that teenagers can write about significant issues, such as gender, sexuality, and violence. 

‘Spoiler free’ Summary

Walking home after seeing a Paul Newman movie, the narrator Ponyboy Curtis is jumped by members of a rival gang, the Socs, but his gang members arrive in time to scare them off. Dally Winston invites them to see a movie the next night, and Ponyboy and Johnny agree to go. At the movies, they make friends with two Soc girls, Cherry Valance and Marcia. Cherry and Ponyboy head to the concession stand. When they get there, Ponyboy talks about Johnny’s experience of being beaten by Socs, which explains Johnny’s decision to carry a knife.

Two-Bit Mathews, a member of the greasers, shows up at the movies and offers to drive the Soc girls home. Cherry and Ponyboy talk about why Socs and greasers are different and discover they have some things in common. Ponyboy tells Cherry that his oldest brother, Darry, doesn’t like him. Darry took over the responsibility for him after the death of their parents in a car accident.

The boyfriends of the Soc girls and other Socs arrive in a blue Mustang. Cherry and Marcia rode home with the Socs boys to prevent a fight. Ponyboy and Johnny stay out and sleep in a vacant lot which makes Ponyboy get home late. His brother, Darry, slaps him for coming home late, which made Ponyboy run away with Johnny. 

The Outsiders Plot Summary

Spoiler alert: important details of the novel are revealed below.

The book starts when the main character Ponyboy Curtis , a greaser (the gang of poor East Side kids in Tulsa), leaves a movie theatre after watching a Paul Newman movie and begins to walk home alone. A car trails him, and he suspects that it is filled with many Socs, their rival gang in that city. Socs are members of an affluent West Side gang who recently beat up Johnny and constantly fight them. The car stops, and as he suspected, it was filled with their rival gang members. They came out and started beating him up, trying to cut off his hair.

Ponyboy cries out for help, and his cries alert his brothers and fellow greasers, and the Socs flee. Later, Ponyboy’s guardian, his older brother Darry, scolds him for walking alone.

Johnny and Ponyboy go to the drive-in the next night with fellow greaser Dally who had invited them for a movie night. Ponyboy becomes friends with one of the Soc girls named Cherry Valance even though Dally was annoying the girls. Cherry says not all Socs are bad when Ponyboy tells her about the Socs’ attack on Johnny. Cherry discusses some of the Socs problems with him, and they discover that they share a shared love of watching sunsets.

They all walk out of the drive-in together and are confronted by some Socs. One of the Socs is Bob, Cherry’s boyfriend, and they almost start fighting, but Cherry stops the confrontation by going home with Bob. Instead of going home immediately, Ponyboy talks with Johnny in the vacant lot and falls asleep. He returns home late, and his brother Darry was so pissed that he hit him. Ponyboy didn’t like that and runs from the house and goes with his friend Johnny to the park. It was there that they ran into Bob and his Soc friends. The Socs attack them, dunking Ponyboy’s head into the fountain. Johnny stabs Bob, killing him in the process. Dally helps them escape town.

The boys hide in an abandoned church near their countryside. When they got there, they shaved their hair to disguise themselves. They spent five days talking, smoking cigarettes, and reading from Gone with the Wind while Dally visits them regularly.

One day, on the way back from a restaurant, they find the church in flames. The boys run inside to save a group of schoolchildren who have gone there for a picnic. The three of them could protect the children but got injured in the process and were rushed to the hospital. It was there that Ponyboy recognizes for the first time how much Darry truly cares for him at the hospital. He also learns that Dally will recover, but Johnny was in a critical condition.

The next night was scheduled for a big fight between the greasers and the Socs. Ponyboy was able to talk to Bob’s best friend, Randy, who says that he has decided not to fight because, after Bob’s death, he has realized it won’t accomplish anything. Though Ponyboy is sick and sceptical about the purpose of fighting, he participates in the fight, and the greasers win.

After that, Dally and Ponyboy went to the hospital to visit Johnny, where they heard his last words: “ Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold .” With a heavy heart over Johnny’s death, Dally flees the hospital, robs a grocery store, threatens the police with his unloaded gun, and is killed. Ponyboy got worse after joining the fight with his injuries from the fire. This made him unconscious and delirious for several days.

After his recovery, all the gang members from both sides attend a court hearing where All witnesses absolve johnny as having acted in self-defence. However, Ponyboy is depressed by all that has happened, and his grades begin to suffer, plus he almost slips into violence. His English teacher tries to help him by asking him to write a final essay on any topic of his choice in order for him to pass his exam. Ponyboy couldn’t find a topic for his English paper, which leads to a fight between him and Darry about his lack of motivation. Sodapop becomes angry and pleads with the brothers to stop fighting because it is tearing him apart, and they agree not to fight anymore.

Later that night, Ponyboy examines a copy of Gone with the Wind that Johnny left him. A note drops from the book where Johnny has written to Ponyboy, spurring him to keep his idealism and never give up hope for a better life. Ponyboy decides to write his essay about all the happenings in his life in the last few weeks. With this book, he hopes to bring the world’s attention to the plight of boys like himself and honour the memory of those who died. And he wrote the first sentence of the essay, which is also the novel’s first sentence.

What does Ponyboy realize about his brother Darry when he comes back home?

Ponyboy realizes that his brother Darry loves and cares for him. He saw him cry at the hospital and he was shocked. He now realized that his brother was strong enough to shape his life in the right way, not out of hatred.

What is the one rule besides sticking together in ‘The Outsiders ‘?

The one rule of the greasers, besides sticking together, is not to get caught. Among the greasers, those living in the west side of town, where it is considered poor environs and so lower-class people, have a rule of always being there for each other -stick together as their number one rule. 

Why did Ponyboy assume responsibility for Bob’s death?

Ponyboy went into depression after just witnessing the deaths of his two close friends – Johnny and Dally. He has had a hard time accepting reality, starting he is suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and attempting to repress his memories. This made him assume responsibility for Bob Sheldon’s death.

What does Ponyboy do after Darry hits him?

Darry the elder brother of Ponyboy was very angry with him when ponyboy came home around 2 am. They argue and Darry slaps him for staying out so late. This action angered the ponyboy that he leaves their house in a fury and goes to meet his friend Johnny in the lot where greasers hang out.

Why was Dally upset when Johnny told him to leave Cherry alone?

Dally is a member of the greasers who was tough and someone that Johnny admires a lot. When Johnny and ponyboy went to the movies and befriended the Socs girls, dally came there and started disturbing the girls. He put his legs on Chery’s chair and tried telling her things but she wasn’t interested. Johnny told him to stop disturbing her and this upset him. As ponyboy remarked. “You just didn’t tell Dally Winston what to do.” 

The Outsiders Quiz

Dive into the world of loyalty, rivalry, and self-discovery with our ' The Outsiders ' Trivia Quiz! Do you have the insight and knowledge to navigate the complex lives of the Greasers and the Socs? Accept the challenge now and prove your mastery over S. E. Hinton's timeless tale of friendship and struggle

1) Where do Johnny and Ponyboy hide after the park incident?

2) How does the novel ' The Outsiders ' end?

3) Who is the Soc girl that Ponyboy befriends?

4) Who is Ponyboy's oldest brother?

5) What does Ponyboy realize about the Socs and the Greasers at the end of the novel?

6) Who is the author of the poem ' Nothing Gold Can Stay '?

7) What is the significance of the poem ' Nothing Gold Can Stay ' in the novel?

8) What does Two-Bit give to Dally in the hospital?

9) What weapon does Johnny use to defend Ponyboy?

10) Who is the protagonist of ' The Outsiders '?

11) What does Ponyboy do to cope with the loss of Johnny and Dallas?

12) What is the name of the high school that Ponyboy and his friends attend?

13) What novel do Johnny and Ponyboy read while hiding?

14) What is the result of the rumble between the Socs and the Greasers?

15) What happens to Johnny and Ponyboy at the park?

16) Who gets injured trying to save children from the burning church?

17) What happens to the church where Johnny and Ponyboy are hiding?

18) What does Ponyboy decide to write about for his English assignment?

19) What event leads to Ponyboy and Johnny running away?

20) What does Johnny tell Ponyboy before he dies?

21) Who helps Johnny and Ponyboy while they are hiding?

22) What do Ponyboy and Randy discuss when Randy visits him?

23) What does Ponyboy do when he is confronted by Socs after Johnny's death?

24) What are the two rival groups in ' The Outsiders '?

25) Who is the author of ' The Outsiders '?

26) How does Dallas react to Johnny's death?

27) What causes Ponyboy to pass out after the rumble?

28) What is the setting of the novel?

29) How do Johnny and Ponyboy disguise themselves?

30) What injury does Johnny sustain from the church fire?

Your score is

Restart quiz

Join Book Analysis for Free!

Exclusive to Members

Save Your Favorites

Free newsletter, comment with literary experts.

About Ugo Juliet

Juliet Ugo is an experienced content writer and a literature expert with a passion for the written word with over a decade of experience. She is particularly interested in analyzing books, and her insightful interpretations of various genres have made her a well-known authority in the field.

About the Book

Discover the secrets to learning and enjoying literature.

Join Book Analysis

Review: “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton

The Outsiders remains one of the most popular books for young adults despite being written in the mid-1960s. I recall my 8th grade study hall talking loudly about the book before we settled into our homework. Even my husband kept his copy of the book with Sharpie arrows on every few pages. Bearing in mind the harsh reality S.E. Hinton describes, I had to reread The Outsiders and see how the values jive with faith .

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

One of The Outsiders strongest qualities is its unflinching depiction of reality. I cried for the last 80 pages of the 180 page book because I felt completely immersed in Ponyboy’s world. Because we walk in Ponyboy’s shoes as we read, we see the beauty and strength hidden in gangs and switchblades. This group of young men with various rough backgrounds came together as a family. Their main concern was protecting and providing for the other members of their gang.

We also learn of our common humanity along with Ponyboy. In a conversation with the Soc Cherry, Ponyboy says, “‘That’s why we’re separated,’ I said. ‘It’s not money, it’s feeling – you don’t feel anything and we feel too violently,’” (p 38). We see the good and the bad of both sides. As Ponyboy explains towards the end, it came down to the person. Boys from the ‘wrong’ side of the tracks saved people, and boys from the ‘good’ side of the tracks jumped innocent passerby. The mature understanding of humanity Ponyboy gains ultimately fulfills Johnny’s advice to “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” (p 148).

Hiding in Church

Ponyboy tells us that he and Johnny used to go to church consistently. That stopped when they brought other Greasers with them who couldn’t sit still and caused a scene. Yet, in their time of trouble, Ponyboy and Johnny wind up back in a church.

Hinton doesn’t expressly bring faith into the story. Nobody runs around quoting scripture. A preacher doesn’t convert all the gangs into perfect, law-abiding citizens who never fight. And honestly, the book is better for it. The book would feel deceptive if these tough, complex characters suddenly turned into religious robots. Instead, the Greasers and the Socs grow in empathy and understanding. We see the personal aspect of faith reflected in how each person responds to death. God lovingly created each human being with their own strengths, weaknesses, trials, and temptations. Hinton does an excellent job recording it.

• Hinton, S. E.  The Outsiders . New York: Penguin Books, 1967.

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

The Outsiders

S. e. hinton.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Outsiders: Introduction

The outsiders: plot summary, the outsiders: detailed summary & analysis, the outsiders: themes, the outsiders: quotes, the outsiders: characters, the outsiders: symbols, the outsiders: theme wheel, brief biography of s. e. hinton.

Historical Context of The Outsiders

Other books related to the outsiders.

• Full Title: The Outsiders
• When Written: 1964-5
• Where Written: Tulsa, Oklahoma
• When Published: 1967
• Literary Period: Modern American
• Genre: Young adult fiction
• Setting: Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Climax: The deaths of Johnny and Dally
• Point of View: First person

Extra Credit for The Outsiders

Could a girl write this? The Outsiders was published under the pen name S. E. Hinton because publishers didn't think readers would believe this story could be written by a woman. After she had established herself as a writer, Hinton continued to use the pen name in order to protect her privacy.

Rocky path to success: S. E. Hinton's extraordinary success as a young adult writer was not always a sure thing. Hinton's mother once threw her manuscripts into a trash burner, from which Hinton barely rescued them. After The Outsiders was published, the book was so popular that Hinton felt tremendous pressure to produce another one. This pressure led to a three-year writer's block that ended when she met her husband during her college years and he encouraged her to begin writing again. She did, and she produced some of her most admired works as a result.

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

The Outsiders review: S.E. Hinton's beloved novel transforms into glittering Broadway musical

Brody Grant and Sky Lakota-Lynch star as Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade, two Greaser kids who find themselves flung headfirst down a dangerous path.

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at  Entertainment Weekly  with over five years of experience covering the latest in entertainment. A proud Kingston University alum, Emlyn has written about music, fandom, film, television, and awards for multiple outlets including MTV News,  Teen Vogue , Bustle, BuzzFeed,  Paper Magazine , Dazed, and NME. She joined EW in August 2022.

When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater following a performance of The Outsiders , I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and the unique challenges of bringing a treasured text to Broadway.

After all, author S.E. Hinton ’s timeless coming-of-age tale starring Ponyboy Curtis and his ragtag Greaser family has been entrancing audiences for generations now: first as a 1967 novel that remains seminal reading for middle schoolers across the U.S. to this day, and again in Francis Ford Coppola ’s 1983 film adaptation starring C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon , Ralph Macchio , Tom Cruise , Rob Lowe , Emilio Estevez , and Patrick Swayze . Now, The Outsiders has been crafted into a glittering musical that might not hit as hard as its predecessors, but still has the power to inspire an entire generation of young theatergoers just the same. 

The production, which opened on Thursday evening, was adapted for the stage by book writers Adam Rapp and Justin Levine and produced in part by Angelina Jolie . Set in 1967 Tulsa, The Outsiders chronicles the story of 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis (Brody Grant) and his best friend Johnny Cade (Sky Lakota-Lynch) as they attempt to establish themselves and their place in the world amid soul-crushing poverty, contentious family dynamics, and an increasingly violent class war between their Greaser brothers and the rich Socials (Socs for short).

Matthew Murphy

Everything changes when Ponyboy meets Cherry Valance (Emma Pittman) and discovers that the Socs feel just as stifled by their living circumstances as the Greasers. However, the pair’s heart-to-heart unintentionally sets off a chain of events that sends Ponyboy and Johnny careening down a dangerous new path.

As the young dreamer Ponyboy, Grant delivers a star-making performance in his Broadway debut. From the moment that he appears onstage scribbling away in his notebook, it’s clear that Grant sees the character for what he truly is: a wide-eyed kid, burdened by familial and societal expectations, who longs for something more. In turn, he plays Ponyboy with a softness and affability that is hard not to root for — especially when he’s frequently breaking the fourth wall to talk about the show’s latest developments, or popping down into the front row to watch a movie. His gentle camaraderie with Lakota-Lynch's complex Johnny is also incredibly sweet — and sounds even sweeter when they harmonize with one another on tracks like the poignant " Stay Gold ."

The pair’s onstage family is rounded out with stellar performances by Jason Schmidt and Brent Comer as Ponyboy’s brothers Sodapop and Darrel “Darry” Curtis, Daryl Tofa as Two-Bit, and the absolute scene stealer that is Joshua Boone as Dallas “Dally” Winston. He expertly brings a hardened, protective edge to Dally — a nomad who’s well aware of just how cruel the world can be — that melts away the instant his younger brothers need him. And that’s not even mentioning Boone’s effortlessly smooth voice, which he uses to absolutely bring down the house in not one, but two of the greatest songs of the show: the similarly titled “Run, Run Brother” and “Little Brother.”

Unfortunately, the rest of the musical’s songs — which were penned by folk duo Jamestown Revival, with contributions from Levine — pale in comparison to the aforementioned tracks. While its score is sonically in line with the production’s time period with its eclectic blend of upbeat rockabilly, country, and folk Americana tunes (and certainly sounds great thanks to the cast’s expert crooning and nine-piece accompanying band), Jamestown Revival’s ambiguous lyrics often struggle to tap into the heavy emotions that are playing out onstage.

At one point, Cherry sings that the “hopeless war” between Greasers and Socs “is hopeless,” which leaves more to be desired from a musical that aims to give its emotionally repressed characters an outlet through song. Other numbers threw off the production’s pacing or felt strangely jarring, like having the Greasers perform the upbeat “Hoods Turned Heroes” just seconds before throwing theatergoers into a particularly painful scene. However, there are enough dazzling moments when Jamestown Revival’s music truly does sing (like Ponyboy’s anthem “ Great Expectations ”) that leave one wishing they’d leaned into The Outsiders’ darkness, fire, and fear just a little bit more. 

But, where music fails, brilliant staging speaks. With every beating that Ponyboy takes — and, dang, does that poor boy take a walloping during the musical’s two hour runtime — sound and lighting designers Cody Spencer and Brian MacDevitt, respectively, ensure that theatergoers feel each and every punch through loud, ear-ringing white noise and blinding flashes of light. Meanwhile, director Danya Taymor keeps Ponyboy and his pals moving at a swift gallop onstage, pausing only for a few slow motion fight sequences that were choreographed by brothers Rick and Jeff Kuperman. The musical’s biggest brawl, the rain-soaked Rumble, is some of the most captivating stage fighting currently on Broadway — and led to a surprising amount of fake blood being spilled upon its graveled stage.

However, it’s also worth noting that The Outsiders takes some creative liberties in order to tie up any loose ends during its second act. Without giving too much away, the decisions range from omitting certain characters to much larger contextual changes to its story, which fans of the novel or film may find disappointing.

For many, The Outsiders is a story that not only remains as raw and relatable as when they first read it, but also pushed the very boundaries of young adult fiction with its insightful ruminations on brotherhood, identity, and the cycles of grief and violence. While its musical adaptation may have its squabbles, its heart of gold still remains firmly intact. Grade: B

Related content:

• An oral history of  The Outsiders
• Stay gold with your first look at The Outsiders Broadway musical
• Angelina Jolie hires 15-year-old daughter as assistant for Broadway production of  The   Outsiders
• S.E. Hinton on  The Outsiders ' 50th anniversary: 'I could never be that un-self-conscious again'

Related Articles

Pardon Our Interruption

As you were browsing something about your browser made us think you were a bot. There are a few reasons this might happen:

• You've disabled JavaScript in your web browser.
• You're a power user moving through this website with super-human speed.
• You've disabled cookies in your web browser.
• A third-party browser plugin, such as Ghostery or NoScript, is preventing JavaScript from running. Additional information is available in this support article .

To regain access, please make sure that cookies and JavaScript are enabled before reloading the page.

Book Review: The Outsiders

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is a great read. I love the main character pony boy and his brothers each character that he encounters seems to have a story. Each character both main and minor have two sides to them. The plot is easy to follow her not boring. It is also an adventure for anyone who likes a loyal friend to stand by them on the run. The only problem I have with this book is the ending. Smallish book, quick read, I recommend the book and the movie.

Reviewer Grade: 11

Outsiders #11 review

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Bluntly speaking, a book has never needed to end as much as Outsiders . Writing duo Lanzing and Kelly began this series with an implied maxim of reviving Wildstorm’s Planetary with a twist. Of course, this meant that fans of the traditional Outsiders would have to find something to love within the Wildstorm/Century Baby of the week structure. As Outsiders arrives at its long conclusion, readers will hope to finally understand the point of all of this. Let’s explore this further below!

Don’t Like It? You Do Better!

Previously, the Outsiders desperately try to prevent former teammate Jakita “Drummer” Wagner from forcing the multiverse to end. Fortunately, the personified Carrier ship switches sides to reverse the fate of the multiverse. Despite how esoteric that sounds, the basic idea is that the Outsiders get a second chance at fighting back. In addition, the book continously dabbles in meta commentary about the book and the nature of comic stories in general. For one, the story itself represents the dismay of ending stories by embodying the loss as characters and settings within that world. Although, the book doesn’t explain or elaborate any character motivations clearly.

The main idea seems to surround the existential notion of being the “author of your own story.” Part of the overall metaphor calls out anyone upset with how things are going to tell your own stories. Curiously, Jakita registers all of existence as a cosmic library where all stories live. Initially, Drummer chooses the passive route and tries to control the story, but eventually gives up and tries to destroy it all. Arguably, the Outsiders end up becoming active participants in their futures by choosing to write, destroy, or read the stories available. This includes the entire eleven issue saga that has played out thus far. Even though, the irony of asking for Jakita to “prove her point” without the writers proving anything about storytelling is enormous.

Alternate Endings

Throughout this final issue, Lanzing and Kelly explore possible endings to each of the Outsiders stories as they are currently. Firstly, thirty-seven years into the future, Luke Fox has embraced his need to control the unknown and becomes “The Outsider.” Apart from dispatching Batmen to do his dirty work handling incursions, Luke ends up jaded and paranoid like his father. In fact, he actually starts to resemble his father visually. As for his father, Lucius’ illness may catch up to him eight years in the future. Likewise, Kate Kane’s unlikely end occurs in a devastating rooftop battle with evil Duke Thomas six months from now. Ultimately, Carrier decides to intervene and forcibly reunite the Outsiders in hopes of saving reality.

The style and craftsmanship of Robert Carey’s artwork is still a weak link. Character faces are disturbing, his line weight makes his gestures feel stiff, and his perspective is often off. On a positive note, despite the inconsistent quality of the art, the best of it feels cinematic. Each of the Outsider’s vignettes of indoor, outdoor, and single room settings carry their own individual ambiance. Yet, at times the settings in the book do feel underdeveloped and empty. Not to mention, the stiffness of Carey’s figures hurts the framing of his action sequences. Also, the book features a fair amount of odd panels like Carrier kissing Batwoman just because it could.

Recommended If…

• You love Wildstorm Comics.
• You’re willing to see Outsiders through to the end.
• Taking life day by day without a care in the world.

Outsiders mostly turned out to be a backdoor Planetary ending. Lanzing and Kelly underwrite their Bat-family protagonists to shoehorn any and everything they love about Wildstorm Comics into this book. Overall, I can’t blame them for trying to write for the book they wanted to write, but I condemn them not being so good at writing what they want. By the end of the series, the writing duo squeeze all the fun out of superheroics in favor of a X-Files style drama that ends up going nowhere fast. Nevertheless, Outsiders lays on meta commentary about the nature of endings and imply that stories will live as long as there are readers willing to pick them up. So, maybe this book wasn’t great or ends up setting up other Wildstorm spin-offs, but it will always have space to continue in the hearts of those who pick it up.

P.S. And yes, it doesn’t matter if no one likes your story or you can’t figure out how to end it! What matters is actually finding a passion for what you want to write, and trying your best. Honestly, I would absolutely love to write an Outsiders story as a vehicle for things I care about as well, but I won’t spend what little time I have with the characters telling the readers to do better. So, for every writer reading this, write the next one like it’s your last one. For those starting their writing journey, the advice still applies. The stories may never end, but your control over them will almost certainly have a time limit.

Score: 4.5/10

Everything Coming to Max October 2024

Streaming TV racks up huge numbers in August

Roku Ultra receives major upgrades for 2024

You may also like.

• This Week's Reviews

• See Full List

Outsiders #11 Tweet window.twttr = (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], t = window.twttr || {}; if (d.getElementById(id)) return t; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); t._e = []; t.ready = function(f) { t._e.push(f); }; return t; }(document, "script", "twitter-wjs"));

REALITY ITSELF HANGS IN THE BALANCE! In the penultimate issue, our heroes enter the eye of the storm! The pages of reality have become torn and frayed, but will they burn away? Luke, Kate, and Drummer must face the past, present, and future as an unexpected force threatens to erase them all!

• Critic Reviews (6)
• User Reviews (0)
• Rate / Write A Review

There has been nothing quite like Outsiders in the past year of comics, and I am delighted that it was able to culminate on such good terms. Read Full Review

This series may have been a bit too out-there for some, but it was a great experiment. Read Full Review

The only complaint about Outsiders #11 is that it feels a bit packed. I'm going to chalk that up to the fact that this was meant to be 12 issues but got shortened. But for what it's worth, Outsiders #11 is both an ending to a great series and a story about the promise of...well, stories. And who knows: maybe one day someone will revisit this story in the future. Nothing ever ends. Read Full Review

Outsiders #11 provides a fitting conclusion to not only the series and story as a whole, but also for the incredible cast of characters involved. Read Full Review

Outsiders #11 and this entire run were unusual. Felt like a joke that most of us were not in on. Give it a read and see for yourselves friends and readers. Until next time. Keep on Reading. Read Full Review

Outsiders mostly turned out to be a backdoor Planetary ending. Lanzing and Kelly underwrite their Bat-family protagonists to shoehorn any and everything they love about Wildstorm Comics into this book. Overall, I can't blame them for trying to write for the book they wanted to write, but I condemn them not being so good at writing what they want. By the end of the series, the writing duo squeeze all the fun out of superheroics in favor of a X-Files style drama that ends up going nowhere fast. Nevertheless, Outsiders lays on meta commentary about the nature of endings and imply that stories will live as long as there are readers willing to pick them up. So, maybe this book wasn't great or ends up setting up other Wildstorm spin-offs, but it will always have space to continue in the hearts of those who pick it up. Read Full Review

Be the first to rate this issue!

Click the 'Rate/Write A Review' link above to get started.

2022 In Review:

Reviews for the week of....

• Privacy Policy