Hinton, S. E. The Outsiders. New York: Speak, 2006. Print.
Brief Summary: The Outsiders is a story set in Oklahoma during the 1960s and is told by a fourteen year old boy named Ponyboy (yes, that is his real name). He’s a greaser, is being raised by his two older brothers, and can’t seem to avoid conflicts with the Socs. The greaser gang, made up of Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry, Dally, Two-Bit, Steve, and Johnny, is all the family each other has. The Outsiders tells of a time when the greasers face some tough issues and must stick together and face some hard truths in order to get through it all.
Overall impression: It’s considered a classic for good reason.
Critical Analysis: Despite being a classic YA novel, this is the first time I have read The Outsiders. I thought that it was engaging and still relevant for YAs today (nearly 50 years later). The protagonist is 14 years old and the majority of the other characters are between 16 and 20. This gives readers of many ages the opportunity to relate and connect with the characters. Also, because the main focus is on the two extreme socioeconomic statuses (low income being “Greasers” and high income being “Socs” or “Socials”), YAs can either relate to the characters’ situations or develop an empathetic attitude toward those who are different than themselves. In addition to these aspects of the novel, The Outsiders seems to appeal to YAs mostly because of its intense plot. It has smoking, alcohol, rumbles, fights, and murder all in one story. Teens tend to either seek out risks or at the very least they tend to have the “I’m invincible - that’ll never happen to me” outlook. Reading this novel will satisfy their desire for realistic action while also showing them that no one is invincible.
The strengths of the novel, in my opinion, are its relatability to boys, its emotional bluntness, and its engaging plot. The weaknesses are that it may not appeal to girls as easily as boys and its narrative is not always believable. I was not aware of this until after I finished the book, but the author is a woman even though the story is narrated in first person by a young boy. This made more sense to me because a few of the things that Ponyboy says did not come across as ‘boyish’ to me. Things like his awareness of his brothers’ handsomeness and his openness about his emotions did not seem typical for a 14 year old boy, but these details do not necessarily have to negatively affect the story. The strength outweigh the weaknesses by far.
Activity: High school librarians could collaborate with teachers who have assigned this book as required reading and do an activity in the library related to their classroom learning. The library could create a display promoting the book and allow students to use sticky notes to write things like why the book is still relevant today, what they might have learned from reading it, and/or what character they most related to and why. Students can write their student ID numbers on the backs of the sticky notes in order to receive credit for participating but their responses will remain anonymous to their peers.
Related Resources: The Outsiders is now considered historical fiction for YAs, so one of the most important things to discuss with teens while reading this book is the time period in which it takes place. Teachers or librarians can use many resources for showing YAs life in the 1960s (those who have grown up in the ‘60s can tell their own experiences and maybe even bring in actual things from that time). Here are a couple of websites to get started with:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=17&smtID=1 (I wouldn’t necessarily make teens read directly from this website, but rather the educator should take information from the site and present it to them in a less boring way)
http://www.pbs.org/opb/thesixties/topics/culture/ (Teens might enjoy exploring this one)
Published Review: Peck, Dale. "'The Outsiders': 40 Years Later." New York Times Book Review (2007): 31. Book Review Digest Plus (H.W. Wilson). Web. 14 June 2016.
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