Tag Archives: gangs

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

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The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about two rival groups known as the Greasers and the Socs. The Socs, a group of rich kids with everything they could dream of, commonly pick on and beat up the Greasers. Ponyboy, the main character, learns to live with the Socs always breathing down his neck.

However, one day the Socs take things too far. While Ponyboy is at the park with his friend Johnny, Socs show up and beat them per usual. However this time, they hold Ponyboy’s head under a fountain. Johnny watches helplessly as he tries to figure out what to do. Finally Johnny gets out his switchblade and stabs the Soc that was drowning Ponyboy.

Terrified, the other two Socs flee in their car, and Ponyboy and Johnny go to find someplace to hide. They hide in an abandoned church until Johnny decides to turn himself in. His reasoning for this is that he hasn’t ever gotten in trouble with the law, and it was in self defense, so his sentence couldn’t be that bad. Before they can though, the church catches on fire and Johnny is injured saving kids inside the church. Johnny is sent to the hospital and treated for bad burns on his back. He dies, leaving Ponyboy with three last words as advice, “Stay golden, Ponyboy.”

-Emilio V.

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download from Overdrive. 

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton

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Image result for the outsiders bookIf you can visit Oklahoma back in the 1980s, you might have seen the gangs called the Greasers and the Social. Greasers, earn their name from the grease used to style their hair–enough to supply you to cook with for about two days. Life is unfair? No, it’s just too far to the Social, for their parents feed them money every day so that they are too full to stand up, walk to the fridge and grab a piece of bread to eat as lunch.

Ponyboy Curtis, whose parents died when he was little, lives with his two older brothers, Sodapop and Darry. One day, after going through a drastic fight with his brother, he ran away to the park with his friend Johnny. After witnessing the frantic Johnny killing a Social member, a rival gang, Ponyboy realized that life is going to smash him as hard as it can on the face.

I was very intrigued by this book that I couldn’t put it down for a second. But it’s absolutely incredulous to imagine teenagers killing somebody but still survive after all these streaks of dangerous events. But if it’s me, I’d rather behave well and listen to my older brothers because they are my only family members and I know that they love me so much like my parents.

-April L.

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded from Overdrive. 

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

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“Stay gold, Ponyboy.”

The first time I heard about this book was a recommendation from my English teacher. I haven’t been reading in while and I asked my teacher for some book recommendations in YA fiction. It took me almost a year until I finally picked up and I’m glad I read it.

The story sets in time around the 1950’s about a 14-year-old boy named Ponyboy Curtis and his life as a Greaser in East side. Ponyboy is part of a gang called the Greasers, the poor working class that causes trouble with the law. They are strong enemies against the Socs (Socials), who are the West side rich kids that cause trouble with the law, and they bully and fight the Greasers for fun.

Ponyboy’s gang includes his two older brothers, Darry and Sodapop, Dallas Winston, Johnny Cade, Two-Bit “Keith” Matthews, and Steve Randle. Even though do drugs, curse, commit crimes, the gang is loyal to each other and treat each other like family.

At the beginning of the book, Ponyboy admits that he doesn’t get along with his older brother Darry or Darrel. When Ponyboy comes home later than usual, Darry, his guardian since when, becomes furious with him and leads to drastic consequences to Ponyboy’s “normal” life.

Although there is violence, illegal activities, and mature themes, I loved seeing the characters develop and grow. The friendships and close bonds in this story were fantastic to read.

Overall, I found this book an enjoyable read and I recommend it for teens and up. So far my favorite book I read in 2017.

-Ash A.

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.