The Outsiders
S. E. Hinton, 1967
★ 4.15 from 1.7m ratings on Goodreads
A fourteen-year-old greaser narrates a Tulsa summer of class war, brotherhood, and the books and movies that make him feel like an outsider everywhere. The narrative has a plain, lyrical quality, blending youthful defiance with deep tenderness as a teenager explores his place in a divided town.
Feels like tenderness, defiance and grief. About family, identity and friendship.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you appreciate stories about intense brotherhood and navigating social divides. Be prepared for moments that some readers describe as highly sentimental or difficult to connect with.
Why read it
This novel gives you a raw look at class warfare through the eyes of a young person trying to define who he is.
A page from the book
What a Victorian orphan knows about the sting of being seen as common.
I was still thinking about it while I was doing my homework that night. I had to read Great Expectations for English, and that kid Pip, he reminded me of us—the way he felt marked lousy because he wasn’t a gentleman or anything, and the way that girl kept looking down on him. That happened to me once. One time in biology I had to dissect a worm, and the razor wouldn’t cut, so I used my switchblade. The minute I flicked it out—I forgot what I was doing or I would never have done it—this girl right beside me kind of gasped, and said, “They are right. You are a hood.” That didn’t make me feel so hot. There were a lot of Socs in that class—I get put into A classes because I’m supposed to be smart—and most of them thought it was pretty funny. I didn’t, though. What readers say
Readers say many were deeply moved, sometimes tearful, and attached to the characters' brotherly loyalty and friendships; others found the book boring, sentimental, or hard to connect with despite its classic status.
S. E. Hinton.Hinton wrote The Outsiders as a Tulsa teenager; the greasers and Socs were drawn from the real East-West social divide at her high school.
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Outsiders for me?
- You may like it if you appreciate stories about intense brotherhood and navigating social divides. Be prepared for moments that some readers describe as highly sentimental or difficult to connect with.
- What is The Outsiders like?
- The narrative has a plain, lyrical quality, blending youthful defiance with deep tenderness as a teenager explores his place in a divided town. Feels like tenderness, defiance and grief. About family, identity and friendship.
- What should I read after The Outsiders?
- If you liked The Outsiders, try The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger), The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) and Charlotte's Web (E. B. White).
A taste of the feed
The only job that feels worth doing, and why it can't be real.
Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody’s around — nobody big, I mean — except me. And I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff — I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye, and all. I know it’s crazy, but that’s the only thing I’d really like to be. I know it’s crazy.
The Catcher in the Rye · J. D. Salinger
The voice that will carry you away is more polite than you'd expect.
I could introduce myself properly, but it’s not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.
The Book Thief · Markus Zusak
What contentment looks like when it includes the rats and the manure.
It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar, with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything.
Charlotte's Web · E. B. White
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