I don’t know why I’d never previously read The Outsiders. I grew up loving another S.E. Hinton book, That was Then, This is Now. That book has some overlapping characters as The Outsiders; the Shepard brothers appear a few times, and Ponyboy is mentioned. But despite the fact that I grew up loving Bryon and Cathy, and re-read that book many times, I somehow never picked up any of Hinton’s other novels. This year, the PS Reading Challenge has a prompt to read a book that was turned into a musical. And guess what just so happened to have become a Tony Award-nominated musical this year? That’s right! It seemed especially appropriate to pick it up in September, National Banned Book Week.
My God, how I’ve missed out. I understand now how S.E. Hinton became an immediate American icon at such a young age, because The Outsiders is incredible. It reads like a teenager talking because a teenager wrote it, but it doesn’t feel like the reader is being condescended to. Ponyboy feels like a kid you could bump into on the street, and his relationships with Sodapop and Darry are so realistic and complex. Every character (ok, maybe not Steve) is given a real moment to shine, and Johnny and Dally’s resolutions are heartbreaking. Hinton’s depiction of Ponyboy’s depression and illness are also moving, and the final act of the story is wonderful and sad.
Here I am, a grown woman, kicking myself for not having read this as a teenager. Now I need to watch the movie, and sob some more.