The Outsiders

Reader reviewed by Majken

Nothing gold can stay.
This is what Ponyboy is brainstorming over. Digging sunsets isn't maybe the first thing you see a greaser doing, but this is Ponyboys hobby. What does the quote mean?
The book The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton is a very realistic book (realistic fiction) that settles back about 50 years ago at the east coast of the U.S. The book is very realistic with no fairytale endings. The story is written in first person and told by Ponyboy, 14 years old. He is the one going through the pain, but also describing it in the book.
S.E. Hinton who wrote the book was only 17 years old when she started. The book was the first one she had ever written. She started it because she was angry at a Soc that had called her friends greasers. It made her express her feelings.
When I first started this book I was not very pleased. I thought the teachers made a bad choice, because it seemed everything else besides interesting. The beginning was confusing with the character descriptions but of course they were useful then later on. When read further on the book I even had some problems stopping to read when class was over because everything was so clear. That is also why I finished the book before half of the class. The middle of the book was a bit hard to understand also because everything went past so fast and I had problems to understand what was going on. One example is that first something very serious happened, then they moved and suddenly they were back. This just didnt seem realistic enough.
The main character of the book is Ponyboy. A couple of the minor characters are Sodapop (Soda) and Darrel (Darry), Pony's brothers. Then there is also the gang: Johnny, Dally, Steve, and Two-Bit. Soda is the nicest one in the gang and he cares about people. The characters in the book also call him movie-star handsome. Darry is a bit tougher then. He seems very hard, but it is because he wants other people to success in school and get a sophisticated job when he didn't. Johnny is often frightened and shy. Steve has a big mouth and is not very friendly. Two-Bit then again thinks that life is a joke. Two-Bit never takes anything very seriously.
They all go through a lot of adventures. For example in the beginning of the book Ponyboy gets jumped by 5 Socs. In the book there are two different sides, the rich side; the Socs, and the poor or mistreated side; the greasers. Later on in the book there are fights - mostly between Ponyboy and Darry - but one of the fights even lead to death. The fights between Darry and Ponyboy are nothing serious though, mostly about school and behavior Of course the police find out about the murder and soon they are caught. What is unfathomable with this is that they were claimed heroes after they saved kids in a burning church. Sadly some important characters die. Now if I reveal any more about the book you will understand the book before you read it, because the plot is very simple and easy to guess.
Some positive thoughts about this book are that it's very detailed and real. It feels like you are actually living with the characters. The book has satisfying action and a very clear and message to everyone. A negative thing is that it contains hard words from the 50's. Of course you can think about it in a positive way because it makes the book more realistic. If you don't understand, you can use a dictionary or internet.
My opinion of this book is very positive. I liked the author's way of writing and showing how unfair the world can be. She used many mental pictures to show the world and this relates pretty much to the present. I thought S.E. Hinton had a talented and excellent word choice. But mostly why I liked this book was because Ponyboy just seemed too much like me. He acted the same why but the only difference is that I have a lot of energy meanwhile he is more calm. I recommend everyone over 10 years old to read it. Younger kids might not understand the book as well as older children. But the world isnt fair, is it?

Reader reviewed by Bartek Gosowski

Once in a while there just is a book that understands you, a book that you can connect to, something that is going to live forever, similarly this book is that type of a book. S.E Hinton did an amazing job writing The Outsiders. When I first started reading this book I felt that I will not be able to connect because have your parents and you are not a Greaser or Soc but then when you think about this book deeper you will see that you can connect because you feel like an outsider occasionally. For example when a person goes to a birthday party and he feels like he would not be missed and the boy got invited to the party just because the boys mom that invited him made him or you are new at a school.
It is a realistic fiction book because the things could of happened but really did not. This book takes place in the 1950's which was present time for S.E. Hinton when she wrote the book at the age of only seventeen. It happens in a city on the Eastern coast of the U.S.A and has some really interesting characters. The first character and the narrator of the book is named Ponyboy. He is a small 14 year old that loved his parents and had a good live until they died. Now his two brothers a sixteen going on seventeen year old Soda and the big and stocky build 21 year old Darry.
Darry is the more responsible brother of the two and probably because he is oldest but because of that he yells at Ponyboy a lot. For example he tells him to use his brains because he knows that Ponyboy is smart enough to get out of this place and of being a greaser. Darry tries to get Ponyboy to try because he had lost his chance of getting out because he could of had a football scholarship and finish collage but he chose not to because he was really lazy. Soda is the opposite of Darry even thought they are best friends and brothers. Soda always has a smile on his face and is almost always happy. Soda also is the opposite of Darry because Soda is a total dropout and it seemed formidable to finish school. Those three brothers have a lot of friends like Two-bit as they call him because he always adds his two bits to sentences. He is also kind of stocky and always brings his switch blade every where he goes. Another friend of there is Johnny who is a very quiet guy who is really helpful in everything. He is really quiet because he got really badly beat up by the Soc's ones. The best friend of Johnny is Dallas who helps who helps Johnny and Ponyboy a lot during the way and he is big and fits the stereotypes of a Greaser.
The first important thing that happened in the outsiders was when Ponyboy got jumped by the Soc's and would of gotten beat up pretty badly if Soda and Darry would of had came in and stopped them. The next really important thing that happened in the story was that when Bob a and his gang of Soc's attacked Johnny and Ponyboy and they nearly drowned Ponyboy so Johnny took out his switchblade that he was carrying with him every time since he got jumped really badly and nearly killed and stabbed Bob with great anger. He had killed Bob so now they had to hide. So they went to Dally and he game them money and other valuables and told them a good place to hide. Later when they stayed there for some days Dally came to tell them that it is safe for them to go back but they see a church on fire with kids in them and they try to safe and read on the rest for yourself.
Therefore I loved this book and and who knows it may of have been the best book I ever read, I will advocate this book to every person or kid above the age of 10. The perfect age for reading this book is about the age that we read it in our class because that is the age at which kids can understand this book really well and at the same time learn some life lessons like for instance that you should always have somebody you should trust. Also this book just flows when you read it and that is probably because I was so interested in what is going to happen next and also because it is written in such a way that it sounds like your friend wrote it. This is an astounding book and I can say nothing bad about it, especially when you think that it was written by a 17 year old in the 50's.

Reader reviewed by Bethany

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."

THE END

CHAPTER 1
"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."

Doesn't something sound similar? These two sentences are thought by Ponyboy at the ending and beginning of the story, THE OUTSIDERS. They're exactly the same! This part was my favorite part of the novel. How it starts and ends the same. It was amazing how the author was able to do that and not confuse anybody. The book goes around in a circle, connected like the circle of life which this book made me think about. The Outsiders was the first book written by S.E. Hinton AKA Susan Eloise Hinton when she was only seventeen and it was a great hit. The book has been in libraries and stores for over fifty years!

"Socs!"
"Greasers!"
"Socs!"
Greasers and Socs are the two rival gangs that have been fighting for a long time. They are completely different. West side rich kids, high classed, mustang drivers, does bad stuff just for kicks, jumps Greasers... Yup! Those are the Socs. The cool guys. On the other hand, East side poor kids, low class, wild, and greasy haired... That's the Greasers.
Realistic-Fiction is a perfect genre to describe this book. You always can relate or disagree with books like these, makes you become the character and think and feel. The book has very strong writing with very good details and many lessons can be learned by reading this book. Normally, a realistic fiction book may become boring because of the long text, but this book kept me reading. It made me wonder what will happen next. It didn't confuse me like a lot of other books from this genre do.


The Outsiders was written like a diary from Ponyboys point of view.
This story took place in a small city called Windrixville. There were a lot of important characters in this book in my opinion. But I would say that Ponyboy and Johnny were the two main protagonists this book. They taught the readers a huge lesson. Ponyboy, the main protagonist of this book is a Greaser. His parents had died when he was still a young boy. That is why he lives with his brothers Sodapop and Darry. He always thought that Sodapop was the kind of look he wanted to be but his own looks are not pretty bad either. Long light brown almost red hair, and greenish grey eyes. He loves movies which a lot of the gang likes too, but he also likes to draw, read, and watch sunsets. Not a lot of Greasers or Socs like these. He has a great friend Johnny who is also fourteen years old, sadly abused by his parents, and very sensitive. They both have a tough and hard life being a Greaser. Things are rough all over. Most of the story talks about how Socs and Greasers are in a fight. For example the time when Socs drown Ponyboy or when four of the Socs scare Johnny really badly.


This book taught me not only one lesson but many important lessons. When you think about the lessons of this book you may say isn't that obvious? Everybody knows that! But because some things are so obvious, you forget about it a lot of times. For example do you always think, I am so happy I'm with my family? Do you think about it every single time you see them? No, I don't think so. If someone asks you about it, you would probably say, of course I am happy being with my family! But it happens every day that we don't think about it too much and I think it is the same with other stuff. A few of the themes of this book were lessons but I think a most were reviews. For example, one of the themes I recognized was "A hero is not always a person that is good." Johnny and Ponyboy became a big hero but they weren't good all the time. Nobody can be perfect was also brought up in this book.


I highly recommend this book to teenagers and young adults that ever felt like or feel like outsiders. On the other hand I don't recommend this book to little children because of the story that comes strongly to your heart and it may be a bit hard to understand. It lets you think positively, and makes you look at the world from a different view. I liked this book a lot because it had a lot of emotion and strong writing in it. Everybody would have some way to relate to one of the characters or their feelings.


I hope everybody who read this review would be interested in The Outsiders. If you imagined a perfect novel, this The Outsiders is one that would cross the perfect line. It had a drop of adventure, a teaspoon of humor, a pinch of emotion, and everything you can expect from a book.

Reader reviewed by Frida

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I only had two things in my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home," is the way Ponyboy starts his story about friendship and death, in S. E. Hintons world famous book, The Outsiders.
Even though this is a very interesting way to start the book, I didn't think I would like it at first. Well, I never knew how wrong I would be. The Outsiders turned out to be both an interesting and exciting realistic fiction novel. It is set in the 1950's in a town called Windrixville by the East Coast. The story is about the fight between two gangs, the only real difference between them is money. The greasers, the poor kids on the East Side with the greasy hair and the leather jackets, and the Socs short for socials. The Socs live on the West side of town and drive fancy cars and jump greasers, just for fun. The book is about how hard and miserable life can be, but also how to make it better, how to find the good things in the bad things. Together the characters help each other to get through life.
The narrator and main character of the book is a 14 year old guy called Ponyboy. He lives with his two older brothers, Darry and Sodapop, since their parents died in a car accident a few years earlier. Darry, the oldest of the three brothers, is the one who decides everything in the house. He is very serious, and acts much older than his 21 years. He usually bosses Ponyboy around, acting like a father. He very often screams and argues with him, partly because he believes that Ponyboy has the intelligence to move on and actually succeed in life. Ponyboy doesnt seem to understand how much Darry has sacrificed to give Pony a chance to go to school. When he was younger, Darry received a football scholarship for college, but instead of accepting it, he started working to help support the family.

Soda on the other hand never gets angry with Ponyboy. Sodapop is handsome, described as a guy with movie-star looks and full of understanding and trust, he can make anyone laugh. When Darry is too harsh on Ponyboy, Soda acts like a mediator and draws the attention from him. Soda can do anything without getting in trouble with Darry, because everyone loves him. Sodapop is the middle man in the family, he is 16 going 17 and he has dropped out of high school to work at a gas station. He could never sit still for so long to enjoy school anyway. All the three brothers are members of the greaser gang.

This family has gone through a lot of things; the death of their parents, death of friends, fights, murder, and they have to behave to make sure that Soda and Ponyboy wont be sent off to a boys home. The boys have to work hard long hours to get food on the table, and even though they have these conflicts, they manage to get a long pretty well.

However, one day Darry gets very mad and worried when Ponyboy looses track of time and comes home a few hours late, so angry that he hits him. Ponyboy is very upset about this, because nobody in his family has ever hit him before, so he decides to run away. Darry apologizes and tries to stop him, but Ponyboy has already made up his mind. While they are on the run, Ponyboy and his friend Johnny Cade get involved in a murder and they must leave town.

Johnny Cade is Ponyboys best friend. He is a 16 year-old boy, although he looks 14, and he is Two-Bit's little "pet". Johnny has a bad family that abuses him, so he stays with his gang. They are the only people whom he can trust. Johnny is very sensitive and "digs sunsets," which is unique for being a greaser. He shows a lot of courage in the book, including saving children from a fire. Johnny is in fact the reason why this book was written, which you will understand better once youve read the book.
To me, this is a book that you have to keep on reading, and not stop all the time. The author made the characters so realistic that you wanted to know what would happen next, and I got very annoyed when I had to stop all the time in class. Each character has many unique characteristics, which makes you feel sympathy and understanding for them. With all the details in the book, the author has made me hate or love all of them. She made a precise description of all the characters, and she even got me thinking like a greaser, and many times I found myself laughing out loud at things they did or said in the book. S.E. Hinton brings you into her world with Gang fights and murder, so after I finished the book I felt like I had been there, and I had known all the characters my whole life.

I really recommend this book to people from age 11 and up. The reading was quite easy, but it might be hard to understand the plot if you are too young. Some of the vocabulary is slang and old words, which may be a little hard to understand too, but I think that was an extra detail that made the book even more real. So, even though this may not have been a book I would have picked out myself, I really enjoyed reading it and I recommend that others read it too.

Reader reviewed by Victoria

The Outsiders Book Review
When you live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 1960s, you are forced to stop having feelings, regardless of whether you are a Greaser or a Soc. Thats what Ponyboy Curtis, also known as just Ponyboy, experienced in The Outsiders, a realistic fiction book that was written by S. E. Hinton at the age of 17. Even though it is fiction, this book has a lot of true events. It has characters, that you grab your attention and whom you will love the moment you start reading about each of them. The character from which you see the books point of view is Ponyboy, which also happens to be the main character. At first I thought this book was confusing, because there were so many new characters introduced at once, and I had difficulties remembering who was who. I knew though from the very first page that this story would hook me in and take me through a time machine, and I would feel as if I were in the 1960s living the characters daring lives. And so it did.
As I mentioned before this book takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the early 1960s. The book includes a lot of amusing characters like; Ponyboy Curtis, Johnny Cade, Daryl Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Dallas Winston and lots of others. Ponyboy is the main protagonist, and he sees the world differently than the rest of the Greasers. The Greasers include Ponyboy, Sodapop, Steve Randle, Two-Bit, Darry (Daryl), Johnny, and Dallas Winston, also known as Dally. A lot of the Greasers resemble each other, they are tough, non-chalant, troubled teenagers, but in many special ways they are different. Johnny is the gangs pet; Dally is the toughest of them all and has been through everything. Steve has a special gift, that is he can fix a car in a matter of seconds. Darry is the gangs, over-worker and works 24/7 to support his brothers Sodapop and Ponyboy. Ponyboy is the sensitive one and the one that makes people realize the beauty in life, for example sunsets. The groups charmer is Sodapop, with his good looks and charm. Last but not least good olTwo-Bit is the crowds joker, and makes everyone laugh, even though its a sad occasion.
The Outsiders consists of two rival gangs; the Greasers and the Socs. These two gangs are separated by their social status. The Greasers are a lower class gang, which wear faded, ripped jeans, a t-shirt and a big amount of grease in their hair. They have many problems, including their family life, but mostly they have conflicts with the Socs. On the other hand, the Socs are a high class gang, with madras shirts and blue mustangs. Some Socs are; Bob Sheldon, Cherry Valance, Marcia, and Randy. Socs try to jump the Greasers whenever possible. And when I say jump, I mean that they beat them to the ground, and sometimes even pull out a blade. But in the process of reading the book, you find out that Cherry and Marcia are two sweet girls which would never dare to hurt anyone, and they are not like other gruesome Socs.
The first thing that happens in The Outsiders is that Ponyboy one day is walking from the movies, when a blue mustang pulls up on the side of him, and instantly he knows its the Socs wanting some action. They beat him up, but stop when they see Soda, and Two-bit running towards them. In this book, you will also read about other problems and happenings such as murder, running away from home, getting killed, rumbles and gang violence happening between the rival gangs.
I would recommend this book to other readers because you can really relate to the Greasers and Socs problems. Also, this book makes you feel as if you were a by-stander at every scene. You will feel the emotions the characters have throughout the book, simply adore the characters, and you will wish they were your friends. However, you may come across some challenging vocabulary, were you may want to take out a dictionary. This on the other hand will expand your vocabulary tremendously. At some parts of the book, it was very difficult to really understand what was happening. This is where you go back to the place you got confused, and simply read the text again, but this time slowly. Overall, this book will surprise you, make you cry and will take you to the scandalous lives of the Socs and Greasers all in one book.
You should read this book because it has a lot of true feelings, remarkable characters and superior style of writing which really gets you glued to this book whenever you start reading. Every event that takes place in the book makes you wonder what will happen next, it feels as if you are in the characters place, experiencing their every action. Even though, as I explained earlier, it has difficult word choice. The word choice is a bit challenging because it was written for another time period. The Outsiders is a very realistic book that I would without a doubt recommend to any eager reader over the age of 11.

Reader reviewed by Ola Fona?

"Not all Socs are like that". Although the two social groups in The Outsiders hate each other, they do not realize they are alike in many ways. In her book, S.E. Hinton tries to show how some people, even if they seem remote, are still real people.
The genre of The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is probably realistic fiction, but it contains many exciting parts, making it also an action/adventure book. The story is narrated by Ponyboy, a 14 year old teenager. When I first looked at the book, I thought it was quite boring, but remember, never judge a book by its cover. Once I read the first chapter, it became evident that it would be very exciting.
The main characters of the book are Ponyboy, Darrel and Sodapop Curtis. The three brothers live alone in one house on the east side of town. Ponyboy is more of an intellectual type. He enjoys reading, school and movies. I liked Ponyboy because he enjoyed beautiful things in life, for example sunsets. His brother, Soda (16), on the other hand is a drop-out and even thought he's very friendly and always has a smile on his face, its very hard for him to watch his younger and older brothers argue. Soda was my favorite because he has a great sense of humor and is always positive. Darrel (20) is very responsible. He's always looking after his brothers and trying to make some extra money. Unlike Soda, Darry graduated from school but never went to collage. He and Ponyboy get into fights quite often. What I lfind interesting about Darry is that he takes his parents role as a guardian of his brothers. The other two important characters are Johnny Cade (16) and Dallas Winston (24). Johnny is a shy, quiet and sensitive abused teenager. I like Johnny because he's more calm than his friends. Dally however, is the toughest, meanest and probably biggest member of the gang. Dally is more of a wild character that follows his own paths. That's what makes him so special. The setting takes place in the 1950's in Windrixville.
The book starts when Ponyboy gets jumped by a bunch of Socs, a gang made up of rich kids. After his brothers and the rest of the greasers, the other main gang in which all the main characters are in, rescue him, he, Johnny and Dally go to the "Nightly Double", a drive-in movie theater. There they meet two nice Socs, Cherry and Marcia. After enjoying himself and staying out late, Ponyboy comes home. Darry gets so mad at him that he hits him. Terrified, Ponyboy runs away to find Johnny. Together they walk around in the park and talk. While they're sitting on a bench chatting, a bunch of Socs attack them and Johnny turns up killing the leader, Bob. He and Ponyboy now have to leave town and their future is at stake.
A positive part of the book was that it included lots of action. It was also easy to follow because of the slang and teen-like speech. It also goes really in depth, which is a good thing. A negative part of the book is that it only contains one characters opinion and almost all the character's are guys, so girls might not like it that much. Some of the vocabulary can get hard and there are moments when it is a little boring. It also isn't suitable for all ages, and I would only recommend it to teenagers.
The Outsiders was a book I really enjoyed, but wouldn't have chosen as my independent reading book. Although it was very interesting, I don't think many people would like it at first. What I noticed about "The Outsiders" is that while reading the book you can relate to it. Maybe you didn't murder someone, or your parents haven't died, but don't you sometimes feel like an outsider? I recommend this book to all teens who have ever felt like they didn't belong somewhere.

Reader reviewed by Gonzo

The Outsiders Book Review
Gonzo

Who do you want to be a Greaser or a Soc? Are you confused? I'll explain what is going on in here. The Outsiders is a book about two main gangs, the Greasers and the Socs. They hate each other and are always fighting because they think they are different but infact they are almost the same inside. The Socs are the rich kids with big houses and good cars. They like to jump the Greasers, jumping means attacking with knives and fists suddenly for no reason.The Greasers are the poor kids, the are called Greasers because they have long hair and use a lot of hair grease.
I think that this book is realistic fiction because it is happening in the world, all these gangs and gang fights. This is really hooking book ,because I thought I was going to hate the book from the name but I love it!
The Outsiders was written by S.E. Hinton. She was seventeen when she wrote this book, it was written in the 1950's. It is about 60 years old and still really famous, because it has to do with real life. S.E Hinton stands for Susan Eloise Hinton but her editor thought that a book written by a woman wouldn't be published so they hid Susan, along with her writing history she got used to the name.
This book is a first person narration. The narrator is a boy named Ponyboy Curtis. Ponyboy is fourteen years old and has two brothers, Sodapop and Darry, but he has no parents, because they died in a car accident. His brother Sodapop loves Ponyboy a lot and shows he loves him, and his brother also loves Ponyboy, but doesn't really show it.
The main characters of this book are Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry, Johnny, Dallas and Cherry. Ponyboy has long brown hair and greenish gray eyes, he likes reading books and goes to the movies when he is alone. Sodapop has dark brown eyes, long gold hair, he is handsome, he understands everyone. Darry is very stocky, his eyes are blue greenish ice,he is hard and firm and is always correcting Ponyboy, loves to show off his big muscles. Johnny has big black eyes and long black hair, but he is a sensitive boy, who is scared of life and emotional. Dallas has an elfish face, high cheek bones,animal teeth, pointed ears like a lynx, and long blond hair, but loves to break the law, carries an unloaded gun with him to get things his way. Cherry is pretty and has red hair, her real name is Sherri but because of her hair her friends call her Cherry,so far she is the only Soc.
The setting happens in a lot of places but the main place is a town called Windrixville which is divided in two parts, west side is the Soc side and east side is the Greaser side.There is a parking lot in the middle where most of the action happens. Another big setting is Ponyboy's house. This is all happening around the 1950's
The plot is a bit weird but I liked it. The Outsiders starts out by Ponyboy coming out of the movies and then being jumped by a group of Socs. Next on another day Ponyboy, Johnny, Dallas went to the movies and found these two Soc girls, Cherry and Marcia, they walk home to get a car to drive them. On the way Cherry starts telling her feelings about life, and being a Soc to Pony. After that Pony and Johnny escape to Jay Mountain because of a murder event. When they come back there is a big gang rumble/fight. Something very bad happens to Johnny, so Ponyboy gets real sad and starts going from A's to C's and D's his teacher lets him higher raise his grade if he writes a theme, essay, about anything he wants.
You should read this book. There is a lot of irony in it like the sudden escape. You can connect this book to your life and connect to how Ponyboy or Johnny felt. This is a very believable book because as I told there are gangs and gang fight and crime. This is a very interesting book. But the slang used in the book is confusing like do you know what it means to get boozed up, it means to get drunk. Do you know who the heat are, they are the police, and they carry heaters, guns. Do you know what a weed is, it is a cigarette.
It think that after read this book and understanding the way S.E. Hinton writes you will want to read more of her books, because she is a perfect writer! This book is a bout the past the present and the future. You can connect your whole life to it for sure. READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

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.

Reader reviewed by Suzie

"The four boys my brothers and I grew up with, we consider family" thought Ponyboy, the main character in The Outsiders. The greasers grew up together in a small town called Windrixville. They are like one big family. The Greasers have been through a lot, from experiencing child abuse to parents' death, to committing murder. Every greaser except Johnny and Ponyboy is a juvenile delinquent. The greasers are the poor, harmful, fearless teenagers. The greasers all look alike; its just their image, long greased hair, tough looks, and baggy clothes. They are all in the sixteen-twenty one age range except for Johnny and Ponyboy who are fourteen. The Socs are another gang; they're the rich, stuck up, and tough. A gang war between Socs and greasers has been going on since forever.
The book The Outsiders is realistic fiction. The plot in this book is realistic, although not many people are aware that these things happen in the world. However, a lot of people can relate to what is happening in the plot. The book is very dramatic, but also funny. When I started reading this book I thought it was going to be sort of more a boys book, very violent and sad. The Outsiders title made it a little scarier to. The books narration is in first person which I really loved about The Outsiders, because not many books are narrated in first person, which is my favorite type of narration.
Johnny is really scared of one group of Socs since one sad incident, when Johnny was walking home one day a blue mustang drove up and four guys came out. The only thing he remembered were the three rings on a Socs hand. They beat him up pretty badly and if it wasnt for Steve and Two-Bit he would die there. The two greasers found him lying in a blood puddle on a soccer field. Since then Johnny was really nervous around the Socs. About a month after that, Dally, Two-Bit, Johnny, and Ponyboy went to the movies and they met two girls Marcia and Cherry, Dally started hitting on them, but it wasnt working, he only scared them. Johnny didnt like how Dally was treating the girls, so for the first time he stood up to Dally and told him to lay off. Dallas left the group and after the movie the greasers walked the girls home. During the walk a blue Mustang drove up and Johnny noticed the rings. The girls had to leave with their boyfriends although they didnt want to. That day Johnny and Ponyboy got held back somewhere and came home past their curfew. Dally was really mad at Ponyboy and did something to him. Ponyboy ran away with Johnny and since then their luck starts getting worse and worse, they get tangled into a murder and have to run away.
This is a book everyone must read. I would definitely recommend it to middle school students, it is a book everyone can connect to in some way, and it is also very exciting and surprising; kind of unpredictable. The author, S.E. Hinton, definitely wrote it in a way that makes you want to read on and find out what happens next. The main themes in The Outsiders are violence, stereo-typing, and child abuse. The story was easy to understand because everything was very clearly described and the events were all organized, the plot wasnt all over the place. I also liked the authors style of writing because she keeps everything in the story believable because of all the life-like happenings and incidents. The book is also very straight forward.
After finishing the book The Outsiders I can say that this is the only book with such a plot that I liked, it was believable and I could imagine everything in the story. I could also connect to it in many ways. This book has somewhat humor in the dialogs. The book doesnt contain any miracles, the author tries to keep it as possible as it can get. All the violence in the book was also very realistic.

Reader reviewed by Lukasz


Johnny never flinched when his parents hit him, even though it was fatally depressing him mentally.
Johnny is a character in The Outsiders, a fiction novel about life in gangs, written by S.E. Hinton. The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy, is also a fiction novel about a mans tragic life. Even though these books have similarities about abuse, they are actually quite different.
The books Mayor of Casterbridge and The Outsiders are similar because they are fictional, they cover the subject of alcohol abuse, and explore poor and mistreating family situations. In the Mayor of Casterbridge the drunken man, Michael Henchard, sells his wife and only child and becomes psychologically broken. The Outsiders shows alcohol abuse when a gang becomes drunk, start a fight, and people are hurt. Michael Henchard in Mayor of Casterbridge has a broken relationship with his daughter. Beaten by his parents, Johnny in The Outsiders abhors his family and finds refuge in a gang.
The books Mayor of Casterbridge and The Outsiders are different because of their settings, their type of narration, and their storyline. In the Mayor of Casterbridge, the storyline is about one person, Michael Henchard, who loses something dear to him. Then he tries to correct himself but dies of jealousy. In this book, the narration is by third person. The setting is in a rural village, during the 1800s in England. For The Outsiders, the storyline is of a conflict between races and classes. It is a story of a whole gang and not just focusing on one person. The narration of this book is in first person. The setting of The Outsiders is in a large town during the 1950s in the USA. The Outsiders takes place in twenty days while The Mayor of Casterbridge covers the main characters whole life.
So I conclude this review by saying that these books have a few similarities, but are actually quite different. These books explore different cultures. In England life is more formal than in the U.S. In the U.S, etiquette is not as strict as in England. If you come to someones house, people would expect you to be more polite in England then in the U.S. I would recommend both books because you learn about human nature and that grownups are not perfect.