“The Outsiders” by S. E. Hinton

192 pages

Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy doesn’t have the easiest life. His parents died a few years ago, so he's being raised by his two older brothers: Darry, 20, and Sodapop, 16 (yes, those are their real names). In their world (the mid-1960s in Oklahoma), there are two types of people: the socs, rich society kids who get away with everything; and the greasers, who are poor and live on the wrong side of the tracks. The two groups have been enemies for as long as anyone can remember. Ponyboy, his brothers, and their tight group of friends are greasers. One night, their fued with the socs goes too far and Ponyboy's life is changed forever.

It's easy to see why this book is considered a classic; the story, characters, and issues are timeless. I love Ponyboy's voice and the honesty with which he tells his story. I think a lot of people can relate to the internal conflict he struggles with as he tries to differentiate between what he really believes and what he's been taught to believe by society. I think Hinton does a good job of showing how buying into stereotypes can be dangerous without lecturing readers or beating them over the head with the message. I wish I'd read this in high school!