The Outsiders

I still find it hard to believe that a teenager wrote this book. It has very memorable characters and a plot that is instantly compelling. The book handily deals with the issues of economic status, family, friendship, and murder. While I never read it in school (sadly) I can see how it would instantly connect with teens.

At times it delves a little too much into teenage melodrama, but that only seems to make it ring more true. I feel like that is exactly why it remains so popular with teens today--its coming from someone very close to their own age.

There's really not much more to say on the subject that hasn't already been said over the last 35 odd years since its publication. It's been the topic of so many book reports that I'm sure it's tired of being read. I will certainly carry on the tradition in my classroom, using this text to attract a whole new generation of readers. I just wonder if the greaser haircut will ever come back.