Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Victoria

The Outsiders Book Review

"You should always have faith in yourself." Most of the time, in order to live in this world, you must think about who you are and then just have some faith in what you do. My quote is, I think, one of the main themes in The Outsiders: a book that talks a lot about hard choices and life. The Outsiders is realistic fiction because the story could have happened. The author, S.E. Hinton made up the greasers and the Socs, rival gangs, furthermore, the characters.
The main character of this book is Ponyboy; a fourteen year old greaser who is the narrator of the story. He has long, light brown hair, and greenish-grey eyes. Ponyboy loves to read, watch movies and sunsets. He's got two brothers, Sodapop and Darry. Darry is the oldest brother. He has dark brown eyes, hair that kicks out in front and a slight cowlick in the back. His favourite sport is football. Since the three brothers lost their parents, Darry has a lot more responsibility and worries. Sodapop is very handsome, with dark-gold hair and dark brown eyes, and is also very slim. Soda never drinks alcohol: he doesn't need to, he is always crazy. Most importantly, he understands everyone.
Johnny is Ponyboy's best friend, the smallest of the group with big black eyes in a dark-tanned face. His hair is jet-black and heavily greased. Johnny has a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and he is the gang's pet. Unfortunately, Johnny's parents treat him very badly. Dally Winston, another gang member, has an elfish face, with high cheekbones and a pointed chin. Dally has very small, sharp animal teeth, ears like a lynx, hair that is almost white (Blond) and he doesn't like haircuts. Dally drinks and smoke a lot: hes even been arrested at the age of ten. Although he isn't that muscular, he looks very tough and everyone fears him.
Members of the Socs gang include Cherry, Bob, and Randy. Cherry goes to the same school as Ponyboy and she is a cheerleader. Her hair is long and red. Cherry looks about 16 or 17. She is Bob's girlfriend. Bob is a black haired boy with dark eyes, maybe brown. He's got a huge problem with drinking; he gets kind of crazy once he starts.
The setting of The Outsiders is everywhere: at the movies, at Ponyboy's house, the hospital, at the church, gas station, etc. The time is probably in the 60's and the setting is somewhere in a poor city on the east coast of the United States. The greasers and the Socs are enemies. There are many plots, like fighting, escapes and murder that keep you really interested in the book the whole way through. When I began reading The Outsiders, it got me interested right away because it started with the tension between the gangs and it just becomes bigger and bigger. I didn't think I'd like this book, but I guess I was judging it by its cover, which you should never do. I would recommend this book to kids who might have been abused because they would know that they are not alone. I would also recommend this book to kids who like fighting and action books, but perhaps not to 5Th graders, just because the vocabulary could be a little challenging for them. I am not saying, however, that they couldn't read this book, just to be aware that the vocabulary is hard.
Although The Outsiders has a huge amount of confusion, it kept me really interested. Every time I put the book down, I reflected about what I read and thought, What if I was Ponyboy? Would I make different choices than Ponyboy did? What if....? What I mean to say is that this book keeps you thinking of everything: reality, violence, lying, etc. I think whoever reads The Outsiders will really like it, and after beginning it will want to read more and more. I know I did.