A gang of greasers and soc who never get along go to far in their antics causing someone to die. In the process Ponyboy learns a lot about himself and the world around him.
.General Information:
- Age Range: 12 and up
- Price: 7.99 Paperback
- Grade Level: 7 – 9
- Lexile Measure: 750L (What’s this?)
- Paperback: 142 pages
- ISBN-10: 014240733X
- ISBN-13: 978-0142407332
Plot:
The Outsiders is a story told through the eyes and perspective of a young Teenage boy named Ponyboy that is a coming of age story while living as an outcast in society’s eyes. Viewed as an outcast also known as a greaser in the context of the novel Ponyboy learns of societal prejudice and daily threats/violence with the Socs. When the violence is taken too far, Ponyboy learns a lot about society and growing up facing many problems that range from drug/alcohol use, using violence to solve problems, and social tensions/cliques.
Reading/Interest level of the book:
Content of this book is marketed towards those that are 12 and older. I think that the way it was written and the content of the book itself is right along those age lines as well. The “bad” language used in the book isn’t heavily used and the violence through realistically told is not written in a way that the older middle schoolers and young high schoolers would be turned away from it. The writing style used within the book is relatively straightforward and easy to read at a younger age reinforcing the fact that anyone 12 and up should be able to pick the book up, understand it, and enjoy the book/lessons learned from the book. These lessons and life issues should tend to make most kids ages 12 and up interested in the book as they are problems that show up in high school and middle school (though maybe not always as extreme as the ones in the story).
Evaluation:
This book is very well written even though it is not necessarily a tough or elaborately written novel. The author tells this story in a way that you can relate to the characters and the problems and no one in the book is a good guy nor a bad guy. It is hyper realistic in the sense that it describes problems of the world that a young person will likely face such as social cliques, being branded a label whether that label is viewed positively or negatively by society. It talks about drugs and alcohol without it taking center attention of the story. Overall the story itself is valuable in the way it was written and how easily approachable the characters are to the young readers. There is a reason this book is considered a classic and part of that reason is as this book ages some of the imagery may no longer be relevant but the messages and tropes within the book continue to do so.
Bibliotherapeutic value:
This book as mentioned previously in this review does a great job in describing social constructs through school and teens but also within society itself. The main source of the conflict is described between the Greasers and the Socs’, however as one reads deeper into the story you can understand how the lines aren’t really that distinct between the two groups. This book helps teens who may be going through that phase of being in the outcast group or facing social exclusion from various social cliques and how to continue being themselves in the face of all of the societal pressure.
Issues Present:
The Outsiders is commonly challenged for Juvenile violence, gang violence, and drug/alcohol use by minors. All of these topics are present in the book however even more controversial may be the topics of family abuse, societal neglect for those of a lower income, and bullying that escalates into major incidents of violence.
Defending the Title:
Everything in The Outsiders, even though it was written a long time ago, is relevant in some shape or form to today’s teens. Social constructs/cliques, and economic disparity is still very relevant in today’s society and just because you are labelled as something as a teen does not mean that is all you can be. These are critical life lessons that need to be learned and taken on as a teen which is all the reason to have this book and endorse it more. Nothing in the book is overly graphic in detail or unnecessarily violent in order to push the story. The real life situations however are completely relevant and something that teens should be allowed to read about.
Book Talk Ideas:
The descriptions of characters and how they develop would be an interesting book talk idea as the beginning of the book they greasers and Socs’ are described and each character is labelled as such as if that is what they were. Throughout the book we learn more about the characters and they no longer are just Greasers or Socs’ and we learn that there are many similarities and labels don’t limit who you are. These ideas are shown on many pages though good examples are: Pages 9, 10, 19, 28, 29, 66, 67, 101, 108 etc.
Genre/Subject:
The Outsiders genre is fiction though a more specific filing system would list it under realistic fiction. It is a story of self-identification, social constructs, economic disparity.
Similar Reads:
Authors Website:
Awards Won/Accolades:
New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Books List, 1967
Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book, 1967
Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975
ALA Best Young Adult Books, 1975
Margaret Edwards Award
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award, 1979
Professional Reviews:
https://www.hbook.com/1967/08/choosing-books/reviews/review-of-the-outsiders/
Why I chose to read it:
The Outsiders is a book that I read way back in middle school and have always remembered and references to it have always popped up throughout my life. After setting up my libraries banned book week display in the Teen Center that was one of the titles that was used in the display. Seeing the book in the “banned” book section made me want to read it again to truly remember what it was about.
Librarianship 