The Outsiders Book Review

“The Outsiders” is a novel written by S. E. Hinton in 1967. The story is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1965. The book follows two rival groups, the Greasers and the Socs (short for socials). The groups are divided by the economic status of their societies. The main Characters are Ponyboy Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, Darry Curtis, Dally Winston, Two-Bit Mathews, Steve Randle, and Johnny Cade. Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Darry are three brothers that look out for each other after their parents died in a car crash. Dally is one of the roughest of the Greasers. His violent tendencies make him more dangerous than the other greasers, and he takes pride in his criminal record. Two-Bit is a wisecracking greaser who regularly shoplifts. Steve Randle is Sodapop’s best friend since grade school. Johnny Cade is Ponyboy's best friend, 16 years old, and lives with his alcoholic and abusive mother and father. One night, Dally, Johnny and Pony meet two beautiful Soc girls, Cherry and Marcia. Cherry is smart and dreamy like Ponyboy, and they have a good conversation. On the way home, the girls' boyfriends catch them all together. It turns out that Cherry's boyfriend is Bob, the same boy who beat Johnny up. Later that night, Ponyboy comes home late and gets into such a fight with Darry, then runs to the park with Johnny just to get away from the house. Bob and his friends find Pony and Johnny there, and nearly drown Pony in a fountain. Terrified and angry, Johnny stabs Bob to death.

The two boys run to find Dally, knowing he will know what to do. He gives them money and tells them to hide in a church a short distance out of town. They stay there for a few days, reading to each other and talking about poetry and sunsets. When Dally comes to find them, they tell him they want to turn themselves in. Before they can, however, the church catches fire and several small children are trapped inside.
Without thinking, the boys rescue them, and a large piece of burning wood falls on Johnny and