The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Rivalry between rich and poor gangs in 1960s Oklahoma leads to the deaths of three teenagers and intense soul-searching for one of the kids involved, a sensitive fourteen-year-old writer named Ponyboy.
Booklist (February 1, 2017 (Online))
Grades 6-12. This realistic but sometimes unconvincing and melodramatic teenage novel by a 17-year-old girl centers on the actions of a semitough gang in a city in Oklahoma. Narrated by 14-year-old Ponyboy, the story describes the conflict between the “greasers” and the wealthy upper-classboys, during the course of which Ponyboy’s best friend is provoked into killing another boy. Some of Ponyboy’s philosophizing about himself, his friends, and his enemies does not ring true, but on the whole the book is a meaningful narrative with appeal for teenage readers. Junior high and high school.
Back