The Outsiders: an iconic coming of age story

Everyone is probably well aware of the coming of age classic, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Since its publication in 1967, it has become an iconic classic. It became a beloved classic film in 1983 which starred relatively unknown actors but who became household names. Actors like C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze and so many more. The New York Times stated, “The Outsiders transformed young-adult fiction from a genre mostly about prom queens, football players and high school crushes to one that portrayed a darker, truer world." I first read The Outsiders in 7th grade and it was the first time I read a book to analyze themes and messages. It was the first book which has stuck with me even thirty years later! Recently, I reread The Outsiders and I was immediately transported back to the 7th grade and recaptured my love for this beautiful story. 

It is a beloved story of heroism, friendship and belonging. No one said life was easy but 14-year old Ponyboy Curtis is confident he has it figured out. He knows he can count on his older brothers, Darry and Sodapop. He knows he can count on his friends, true friends who would have his back for anything. He also knows he can count on trouble with the Socs, the gang of rich kids who take pleasure in beating up the “greasers” like Ponyboy and his friends. One night, after an innocent interaction with two Soc girls, the tension rises and turns deadly leaving one Soc dead and Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny, running for their lives. Convinced their version of events would not be believed, the boys go into hiding until an act of heroism brings them in the limelight. Ponyboy must learn that life isn’t always greener on the other side. 

The Outsiders is gritty, dramatic and remains as powerful today as it was when it was first published. It laid the groundwork for the Young Adult genre. S.E. Hinton wrote this story when she was 15 years old after she witnessed her friend get jumped by rich kids. The Outsiders was and is a controversial book and it is challenged and debated today. It was ranked #38 on the American Library Association’s Top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the 1990s. It has been banned for the portrayal of gang violence, underage drinking and smoking, and family dysfunction. However, the book is still a part of the curriculum at the middle and high school levels in the US schools. I look forward to introducing my daughters to this beautiful story. If you have never read The Outsiders, I highly, highly, highly recommend it! Then I recommend watching the film. 

The Outsiders is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

The Outsiders movie is available in Blu-ray, DVD and streaming

The Living and the Lost: not just another WWII story!

The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman is the story of love, survival and forgiveness. Meike “Millie” Mosbach and her brother, David, managed to escape to the United States just before the Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, leaving their parents and little sister in Berlin. Once in America, Millie attends Bryn Mawr and David enlists in the army and trains in intelligence. Now they are both back in Berlin, haunted by the ghosts of the life they knew and the devastation from the war. They are hoping against hope that they will find their family. Millie works for the army in the office responsible for rooting out the most dedicated Nazis from publishing. She is consumed with anger at her former country and its citizens. David works trying to help displaced people rebuild while operating secret nighttime activities. Living and working in war-torn Berlin, a latter day Wild West, where danger seems to be around every corner. Millie must come to terms with a decision she made as a girl in a moment of panic. Will she discover what happened to her parents and little sister? Will she be able to come to terms with her life now?  

I read Ms. Feldman’s Paris Never Leaves You last year and I grabbed the chance to read her newest book. The Living and the Lost is a different type of story as she deals with the occupation after the war as many World War II stories tend to focus on the war itself and leaves the aftermath as an afterthought. As I read, I was torn. It is very emotionally, in depth, touching on topics that many of us don’t think about. As the story progressed, I couldn’t help but find connections to the events of the world today and I found myself asking what would I do if I were Millie? The Living and the Lost is not a book to be read lightly. It deals with heavy topics and I had to put it down a few times in order to process what I just read. However, the desire to find out what happens kept drawing me back. I like that the story ended with no clear cut answers as to the whys as life doesn’t always give us answers to our satisfaction. I enjoyed that Ms. Feldman tackled the events in the aftermath of the war and the tensions and prejudices that were present. I recommend The Living and the Lost. 

The Living and the Lost is available in hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook