The Outsiders

As part of a summer book club I participate in every year, we are reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  It also fits under category #10: A classic by an author who's new to you for my Classics Challenges 2018.  Although I'm familiar with this book and the iconic 80s movie, I've never actually read the book or seen the movie.

I chuckled when I saw the book takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I seem to be on a roll with books in Tulsa.  I just finished reading Dreamland Burning which is about the Tulsa race riots of 1921.  I recently heard about, and really want to read, Killers of the Flower Moon which is about the mysterious deaths of Native American women in NE Oklahoma in dealing with oil rights.  When I found out The Outsiders takes place in Tulsa and that it deals with the violence between the "Greasers" and the "Socs,"  I started wondering what in the world is wrong with Tulsa!  Yikes!  At least The Outsiders is fiction, but it deals with some very real issues.  I'm sure that's what makes it such a classic.

I really liked The Outsiders.   I was even more impressed when I found out Hinton was a teenager when she wrote it.  There is a lot of heartache in this book, and I truly loved all of the characters and their many flaws.