The Outsiders in Overdue Podcast

Jun 19, 2017 Chandler rated it really liked it

Shelves: hall-of-fame, audiobook, books-for-boys, books-i-own, classics, top-ten-books-2017, contemporary, standalone-fiction, libby, banned-books

When it comes to reading fiction, I am always considering what books boys will enjoy reading. Sadly, in our society, we have this idea that reading is only for girls, and if one sees the shelves of YA at their local Barnes and Noble, one can begin to understand why, with many books tuned to a strictly female demographic. It can be somewhat surprising, then that one of the first books strictly for the YA market, indeed the book that launched the YA market, was written not only by a teenage girl, When it comes to reading fiction, I am always considering what books boys will enjoy reading. Sadly, in our society, we have this idea that reading is only for girls, and if one sees the shelves of YA at their local Barnes and Noble, one can begin to understand why, with many books tuned to a strictly female demographic. It can be somewhat surprising, then that one of the first books strictly for the YA market, indeed the book that launched the YA market, was written not only by a teenage girl, but by a teenage girl who has become a voice for male readers and male novels everywhere.

This novel does something magical. In a world of 300, 400, or even 800 page novels, this book manages to draw me into a world, it’s characters, and situation in just under 200 pages. This is something that I believe many authors today, even great ones like John Green and Markus Zusak, would have trouble doing. All of the characters work well for me, as does the writing. I always find it interesting when an author writes about the opposite sex, and I would say that Hinton accomplishes this feat well, with the exception of at the beginning when she writes about each boy’s hair. That is just...nope, sorry, I’m not gonna buy that. While it is true that we have a lot of telling in this novel, rather than showing, I am willing to forgive it given this novel's size. It still lends itself to the characters well.

This novel does allow for a certain timeless aspect to it that one finds even today. The idea of economic status being a catalyst for cultural dissonance and violence is one that still stands up today, and even though the themes are somewhat telegraphed to the reader, it is still a good message to teens everywhere.

This is just an novel I love, and still enjoyed all these years after I first read it in middle school. As a book, this novel not only launched all the YA novels we have today, but also is a staple in male-reader oriented fiction. I give this book a four out of five. If you haven’t picked this book up, I highly suggest you do.
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