Review Detail

Reader reviewed by PJR

I teach 7th grade reading and often at this age, many students don't especially like to read. I average about 140 students a day and I've noticed that many males of this age "don't like reading anything at all."
That's the way they feel when they come in to my class. I can't say that I make all of them LOVE reading, but I can say that I teach "The Outsiders" every year and 99% of my students, male and female, love it.
At first, it's hard for the students to get used to the lingo and I often have to explain some of the happenings (because it is set in the 60's) but they end up loving it! They become very attached to the characters and can't wait to see what happend next.
After we've finished the book, the students get to watch the movie, then do a comparison/contrast with the movie and the book.
I recently ran in to a former student of mine (that I'd taught 3 years ago) and one of the first things he asked was if I was still teaching "The Outsiders." When I said I was, he smiled and said that was great, because it was an awesome book. (This particular student is classified as a non-reader and hadn't been interested in any other book in his life!)