The Outsiders. (Lernmaterialien) Paperback – January 1, 1997

Arrived quickly and in perfect shape. Thank you for the extra books!! My son loves them!

My kid needed this book for his English class, it was just what he needed and was new - so it was in great condition.Arrived on time.

When I first read this book in '79-'80, my 5th-grade teacher, Mrs. Butler, failed to mention the fact that the author was a 16-year-old girl. She didn't inform me that the 'S' in 'S.E.' actually stood for Suzan (the 'E' stands for Eloise). So, for a few years in the early eighties, I simply made my assumption. Considering there's pretty much one girl in the entire male-dominated book, I thought my assumption safe. Maybe the 'S' stood for Scott. Or even Sean.In the end, however, it didn't matter which way I gendered the 'S.E.'. It could never negate the fact that 'The Outsiders' is a fantastic book. It was, and still is, the first story I could honestly relate to.When I discovered 'S.E.'s true identity, I couldn't believe it. It completely blew my mind. How did a girl, a 16-year-old girl at that, create such a convincing world? Or such a poignant piece of literature, a story still relevant even today?In 1964, Hinton created a world subjugated by financial inequality and definitive class separation. Her gritty landscape dotted with Corvettes, 'tough' Mustangs. Her characters marred by alcoholism, broken homes, death. The youth in her book, both the Greasers and the Socials, deal with these surroundings primarily with violence.And this came out in 1967. Over 50 years ago.By the way, Susan started writing 'The Outsiders' when she was only 15-years-old. She finished the bulk of it when she was 16. She turned the ripe old age of 18 when the book came out.Then, of course, she gave us 'That Was Then, This Is Now', 'Rumblefish', 'Tex', etc., ...

My son of 13 years realized that there was not any real role model in this novel and a lot of problems such as the consummation of drugs was not resolved. After reading the book, some of his colleagues were asking for cigarettes because they wanted to try.The fire at the old church was the result of the negligence of Ponyboy and Johnny since they left the used cigarettes and the gun there. It was their responsibility to save the kids because they were at the origin of the problem. Ponyboy was a follower because he could have said no to the consummation of drugs and participation in fights and other kind of violence (such as "jumping on kids" randomly as a sport). Darry was not a good brother because he didn't protect Ponyboy. He allowed Johnny to go to the fights even if Ponyboy risked to be caught and go to jail, or even worst, he could have died. The "stay Gold" motto is the only good thing of this book.