On Sunday, on Studio 360 on NPR, S.E. Hinton’s novel “The Outsiders” was discussed. Now forty-five years since its publication, this novel is still going strong. Written by Susan Eloise Hinton when she was a high school sophomore, this book, according to academics, changed fiction. It created the new realism–dark fiction. We are very used to this kind of writing today, but back in the 60’s this was new territory. Each year this novel finds a new audience. Our copy is currently in circulation.
Dealing with the haves and the have nots in Tulsa, Oklahoma, kids still identify with this theme. Hinton created an all-teenage world with the kids imposing rules on themselves. Kids still identify with the characters because the teen years are times of doubt and uncertainty. Today’s YA writers owe a debt to Hinton who paved the way with her novels about kids and their problems in a troubling world.