This book was full of excitment,and definatly made me want to keep reading. Some parts were romantic, some were suspenceful, and some were quite depressing. The author did a good job on keeping me hooked :) Megan P. ( )

It's 10th grade. I'm in love and confused. I sit in my room all night and listen to Babes in Toyland and Sonic Youth. I'm obsessed with the Sci-Fi channel. In my English class, I'm the only person who knows what the word "volatile" means. Even my slightly bald teacher doesn't know. I offer to lend her a dictionary, but she says she doesn't want to talk about it anymore. Her lipstick matchers her eye shadow.I read this book and write a wonderful essay on it for a test. No one else does very well on the test because they don't understand the book and they don't know how to write essays. The teacher reads my essay to the class. I get an award at the end of the year for being the "most promising young writer." Years later I reread this book and feel very sad and nostalgic, especially when I read the parts about M&M because this book is not about being young, it's about being old and remembering, without criticism, when you were young. ( )

Brandon Warburton
Book Review- That Was Then This, This Is Now
EDCI 4120/5120
Dr. Leslie Rush

Hinton, S.E. (2003). That was then, this is now. New York: Speak.

Grade Levels: 9-12
Category: Realistic Fiction

Read-Alouds: pp. 68-69 (Mark and Bryon reminisce on the old days and reflect on the way things are changing.) p.117 (Mark explains the Bryon how he cannot worry so much about the way things are.) pp.110-111 (Mark cuts off Angela’s hair.)

Summary: Mark and Bryon have been grown up together. They consider each other brothers. But as time goes on life seems to be pulling them apart. Bryon feels the clenches of adult life and responsibilities of relationships pressing in while Mark sees on the wild times continuing. Set in the mid 1960’s, the novel is reflection of the lower class greaser lifestyle that was slowly giving way to the era of Vietnam and the free-love movement.

Themes: As with her novels Hinton explores the themes of coming of age. She uses her characters to exemplify friendship, but also to show the pulls of the world and desire to explore and search for individuality. Hinton also looks at the impact of broken homes, drug and alcohol abuse and the pulls of peer pressure in the young adult lives.

Discussion Questions:

Why do you think Bryon chose to call the police when he discovered that Mark was pushing drugs?
How does the environment surrounding Mark and Bryon impact their friendship? What other factors played a role in the slow breaking apart of their friendship?


Reader Response: Another great novel from Hinton. She is a master of character development and simply letting the characters live on the page. Of all the authors I have ever read, it is Hinton who really allows her characters to simply be people. There are no fireworks, smoke or mirrors. When you read Hinton, you deal with nothing but the truth that is humanity, and that is what I love best about her. It is the exhilarating truth that makes her writing so remarkable.

Expecting somewhat of a sequel to The Outsiders, TWTTIN did not provide. I did enjoy the story though. ( )

Not one of Hinton's best, but good all the same.

This almost seemed like a sequel to The Outsiders -Hinton's first book- because it has a lot of the same characters. I was really suprised to see Ponyboy make a small appearence in this book.

The story was decent, but not nearly as good as The Outsiders. The characters were good. All around decent book. ( )