Book Review: The Outsiders

I chose for The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton for my Children's/Young Adult Classic.

Synopsis from Amazon:According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for "social") has money, can get away with just about anything, and has an attitude longer than a limousine. A greaser, on the other hand, always lives on the outside and needs to watch his back. Ponyboy is a greaser, and he's always been proud of it, even willing to rumble against a gang of socs for the sake of his fellow greasers--until one terrible night when his friend Johnny kills a soc. The murder gets under Ponyboy's skin, causing his bifurcated world to crumble and teaching him that pain feels the same whether a soc or a greaser. This classic, written by S. E. Hinton when she was 16 years old, is as profound today as it was when it was first published in 1967

My Thoughts: I must have been too busy reading Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary but somehow I never read any of S.E. Hinton's books as a teenager, didn't know S.E. Hinton is a woman, and never even saw any of the movies based on her books!.. I know, you can't believe it, can you?!? Having said all that, I am planning on rectifying this situation! This book was AMAZING! I read the whole thing in one day (it helps I'm recuperating from surgery and basically under house arrest for two weeks). I enjoyed all the characters and admired Darry, Ponyboy's oldest brother, for doing all he could to keep him and his brother together after their parents' deaths. I have to admit I cringed during the fight scenes and imagine I will undoubtedly do the same when I see the movie. I felt bad for Johnny who's parents don't seem to care about him or what he does and wonder how many children there are out there who live with this everyday; probably more than I really care to think about. I loved the story of these boys, their struggles with life, life-and-death issues, and everything in between. I loved that they seem to come out stronger on the other side, so to speak. Now to add this to my Netflix queue!