The Outsiders

Reader reviewed by Derek Williams

The Outsiders. Hinton, S.E. New York: Penguin Group, 1967. 180 pages.

 

 

Looking for a breathtaking book? If so, The Outsiders is a fiction novel by S.E. Hinton that is just for you!

 

The book is written in first person point of view and is told by the main character Ponyboy, so you are able to hear things through his thoughts, and you get to know how he feels about the rest of the gang and the situations that are happening. Ponyboy is a 14-year old boy who lives with his two brothers because their parents died. They are always trying to make sure that Ponyboy and one of his brothers named Soda do not have to go to a foster home due to getting in trouble or doing something wrong. The three brothers and their gang all protect each other from their rival gang known as the Socs. The Socs often times jump Ponyboy and his gang, who are known as greasers because they heavily put on a lot of grease in their hair all the time.

 

            The purpose and theme of the book is to show kids how when times are tough you have to find people who will accept you for who you are and who you can trust. Once you find those people you must stay close to them. The author shows that not all things in life will turn out the way that you want them to be. The intended audience is people who take what they have for granted or people who want to know more about what life is like for people in a gang or with troubled pasts. S.E. Hinton did a great job of showing that we shouldnt take the things and family members that we have for granted because some people do not have family members or have lost many people close to them. She also showed that the necessities that some people have, others do not have, so we should be thankful for everything we have. We need to realize when we dont think life is fair, that there are many others who would love to have our lives so we should be thankful for the life that we have now.

 

The book really made me appreciate how great my family is, and all of the things that I have and the resources that I have in life. I think that all people from the age group of mature middle school kids and older should read this book. There is a little bit of profanity in the book which is why I recommended this age group. There are too many exciting events to count! You are left on the edge of your seat for every scene, and after one great scene you sped right on to the next one. The adventures never end in this book! The book is truly amazing. You have to read it for yourself to find out if Ponyboy and his brother, Soda, do get sent away from their other brother Darrel, (known as Darry) to a foster home. Youll also want to find out if they ever end up getting rid of their arch rival the Socs. The book is fantastic and everybody should read it!

Reader reviewed by marsandneptune5

This is the story of Ponyboy Curtis who faces a
daily battle with the gangster related culture of 1950's America.
Ponyboy is a greaser and he and his gang have battles with the soc's.Put it together and its just a remake of Westside Story... but with a twist.One day, Ponyboy is involved in a fight with the soc's and
this results in he and his friend Johnny running away to evade capture
and further injury.As the two boys run to an old abandoned church to stay and hide. The boys change their appearances by bleaching their hair. When their friend Dallas, or  Dally, finally came to get them, they filled up
on food, and Johnny decided to turn himself in.But he doesn't.

Reader reviewed by f00lishchick

this was a very good book. i liked the idea of socs and greasers because it made me think A LOT of the greasers in grease. i think that the book was well read because everything seemed to connect back to the beginning when ponyboy was writing his paper for his english class. i think that even though some characters died, it brang out the inner personality of other characters, such as Dally. i recommend this book for all people to read, but mostly from preteens to how ever old because i dont think kids under the age of 10 will understand the book.

Reader reviewed by JackAttack

The OutSiders                                                                                               S,e Hinton                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Gang Killers                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The story begins with ponyboy getting jumped by a gang named the socs, who one of their member was a guy named bob and they beat him up until the gang came and rescued him. The Greasers Are ponyboy and the gang. After that a kid named Johnny was getting beat up by the socs and the gang rescued him. Johnny was only 14 years old and he already had a gang. One day Johnny, Pony, and Dally went to the movies, the socs appeared and the were looking for trouble, they got into a big rumble Bob had Johnny in the water fountain drowning, so Johnny took out his knife and stabbed him, bob was killed. The police started chasing them, so they had to run away Dally have Johnny and Pony a gun, new clothes, and money he gave this because he knew they were going to need it. When they were there, they were smoking and they left the cigarette lit on the floor. When they came back from they re  walk the church was on fire Johnny knew it was his fault so he went inside and rescued the kids after that when he was leaving a big piece of wood that was of fire fell on his back. When Johnny had woken up he was at the hospital. Dally robbed a store because he felt bad of Johnny death and he just did it on purpose to throw his life away. The rumble had started and Dally left the hospital to help out the greasers in the rumble. The greasers had won the fight Dally had died. I recommend this book for teens 13+ because it has a lot of violence. I rate this book 4 out 5.                                                        

Reader reviewed by Noblejot

                                                                      AUTHOR: S.E. Hinton

             THE OUTSIDERS

Have you ever been in a gang? The story The Outsiders is all about gang activity, violence murders, and a lot of mistakes. In this thrilling novel the main character Ponyboy Curtise and his best friend Johnny are victims of a murder done including gang activity. Ponyboy is a fourteen year old orphan who had lost his parents during a car crash. His older brother Darrel takes care of Ponyboy and his second older brother Soda Pop. There are two gangs. First, the Greasers.  The Greasers are low class teens who live on the east side. These young people are ordinary people who have (mostly) long blond hair thats greased back. The Greasers love coarse language and swear words. Ponyboy and Johnny are apart of this gang. The other gang is the Socials also known as the Socs. They are very rich and wealthy people who are clean and love drinking beer at a small age. Unlike the greasers the Socs are a wear of what they dress in. they like wearing dress pants and shirts. Not leather jackets.

 

One night Ponyboy and Johnny go to the drive in movie place with Dally, the head of the gang. At the place Ponyboy strikes a conversation with one of the girls. He then learns the names of the two girls, Cherry Valance and Marcia, also discovers that their Socs. When the movie is done Ponyboy, Cherry, Johnny, and Marcia decide to walk home. On the way back, the Socs and their leader spot the Greasers with their girlfriends. That night Ponyboy arrived home late and got slapped from Darrel the first time. Johnny and Ponyboy then go to the park so Ponyboy could calm down. At the park the boys were stalked by drunken Socs. When the Socs tried drowning Ponyboy, Johnny had stabbed Bob the leader of the Socials gang in the back with his pocket knife. The fountain that Bob was trying to drown Ponyboy in had no longer fresh water in it but was full of blood.

 

This story is an outstanding and realistic New York Times best sellers novel. All theres left for you is to sink your eyes in this fabulous book about solutions rather than violence, relationships, and about how people are treated among their class. I recommend this novel to any teen that wants to learn a better way to handle conflicts in a way without violence.

                                                                                    
                                                                               By: Noblejot 8-4     

 

Reader reviewed by Noblejot

                                                                  AUTHOR: S.E. Hinton

THE OUTSIDERS

 

 Have
you ever been in a gang? The story The Outsiders is all about gang
activity, violence murders, and a lot of mistakes. In this thrilling
novel the main character Ponyboy Curtise and his best friend Johnny are
victims of a murder done including gang activity. Ponyboy is a fourteen
year old orphan who had lost his parents during a car crash. His older
brother Darrel takes care of Ponyboy and his second older brother Soda
Pop. There are two gangs. First, the Greasers.  The
Greasers are low class teens who live on the east side. These young
people are ordinary people who have (mostly) long blond hair thats
greased back. The Greasers love coarse language and swear words.
Ponyboy and Johnny are apart of this gang. The other gang is the
Socials also known as the Socs. They are very rich and wealthy
people who are clean and love drinking beer at a small age. Unlike the
greasers the Socs are a wear of what they dress in. they like wearing
dress pants and shirts. Not leather jackets.

 One
night Ponyboy and Johnny go to the drive in movie place with Dally, the
head of the gang. At the place Ponyboy strikes a conversation with one
of the girls. He then learns the names of the two girls, Cherry Valance
and Marcia, also discovers that their Socs. When the movie is done
Ponyboy, Cherry, Johnny, and Marcia decide to walk home. On the way
back, the Socs and their leader spot the Greasers with their
girlfriends. That night Ponyboy arrived home late and got slapped from
Darrel the first time. Johnny and Ponyboy then go to the park so
Ponyboy could calm down. At the park the boys were stalked by drunken
Socs. When the Socs tried drowning Ponyboy, Johnny had stabbed Bob the
leader of the Socials gang in the back with his pocket knife. The
fountain that Bob was trying to drown Ponyboy in had no longer fresh
water in it but was full of blood.

 This
story is an outstanding and realistic New York Times best sellers
novel. All theres left for you is to sink your eyes in this fabulous
book about solutions rather than violence, relationships, and about how
people are treated among their class. I recommend this novel to any
teen that wants to learn a better way to handle conflicts in a way
without violence.

                                                             By: Noblejot     

 

           

Reader reviewed by peacechik

i had to read this book over the summer for school. i was reluctant to read it at first because no offence, but, i thought it was just about a whole lot of white people doing something. but after i was forced to read it, i found out how wrong i was. ponyboy, the main character's story was really inspiring. some of the parts made me want to cry and others were just heartthrobing. one of the best books ive read. only reason it gets a 4 instead of a 5 is because the ending is so sad. if u want to kno more watch the movie...or better yet read the book:)

Reader reviewed by taylor

SPOILER WARNING!!!

This book was awesome. I loved how it went into detail. Allot of people should read this book. When they did all of this it was so cool. This book is like so perfect for me. If you are a person that likes to read only some books and the books have to grab you into the book this is the book for you.

I usually dont like books and I loved this one I didnt even like the book twilight I am trying to get to a good part and I am slow though. So I would most likely suggest this book to you. And I do not lie to people I promise. How pony boy got mugged and they said that his friend did they explained it all but not to the point where it got boring. Maybe one or two parts got a little bit boring.

Ok about the book. Come one why did Johnny have to die. And why did they have to do through this rough time. I feel so very sorry for them. It sucks that there parent died. But where did they come up with these names for these people. I do not like how sad this book was.

This book was good. But why do you have to make people or characters you love die even dally died. I personally loved this book. Except for some of the down sides to it. Why do people have to die in books? It is just too sad.

I wish they went more in depth at the end of the book. About what had happened to their parents anything about them except for how they got killed by a train. I wish that none of these characters had died it would have made it a better book.

Reader reviewed by AB

The Outsiders was a book about a gang. Set in the 50s in Oklahama. There were two rivials of gangs. The greasers and the socs.
They all felt like family to one another.
They were all different from each other in some way or another.
Great for a summer read!
 Be ready to e left in suspense and maybe just a little depressed by this wonderful work of art by S.E. Hinton!
I give it a round of applause!

Reader reviewed by nikki

This book is so moving and inspirational that i thought that it was in the modern times. I just love the way Ponyboy tries not to get intimidated by his brothers. It made me so sad though when johnny dies. That breaks my heart. I dont like the way they fight almost every day like that. Someone is almost always getting hurt and it was really intense the way that the socials and the greasers were handling things. I give this book two thumbs up!