This book is about a gang of friends or kids. They have another gang that they are against and have many adventures. This is a great book about being from the wrong side of the tracks and the struggles kids face.

Read this book as a teenager and loved every page of it. Ponyboy (to whom I related so closely), Johnny and Dallas. The characters are so rich and the events ring true even after so many years. ( )

I thought this book was great I can see myself reading this book many more times. It taught me to appreciate my family and to not always judge people the first time you see them. ( )

The Outsiders is the story of Pony Boy Curtis, a boy whose parents die in a car wreck. Pony Boy's two older brothers and a gang of friends come to the rescue, and he begins to depend on the love and support of his friends, (the Greasers) all defined by poverty, bad attitudes and long greasy hair. The greasers have a long-standing war, based around inane prejudices, with a group of rich kids (the Socs).

Pony Boy and his friend Johnny, both young and sensitive teens, run away after they are attacked in a park by a gang of Socs and Johnny stabs one of them. The two run to an abandoned church far from the town to evade the grasp of the police. The two prepare to live the lives of fugitives, but when the church sets fire and the Pony Boy and Johnny rescue the children inside it, the two become heroes. The story ends with the death of Johnny during a Greaser/Soc rumble, and Pony Boy being acquitted by the judge for the death of Bob, the Soc he killed.

The story deals with issues of prejudice, family, and revenge, and could easily be considered one of the classic teen novels of the past century. In my opinion, The Outsiders is compelling reading, filled with love, violence, action, heroism, redemption, and triumph. It is one of those books that you will have trouble putting down once you begin. I would recommend it to teens of all ages.

This book is about the life of a teen named Ponyboy who is referred to as a "greaser" because he has long greasy hair. "Greasers live in one part of town and "socs" for socials live in another part. Ponyboy lives a hard life and his best friend becomes Johnny. The book follows Ponyboy through his struggles in life, including a fight with a boy named Bob that results in his death that Ponyboy and Johnny will be charged for, even though it was technically self-defense. Also, Ponyboy and Johnny end up saving children from a burning church that they were staying in, which eventually results in the loss of his friend Johnny due to severe injuries and burns. While Johnny is in the hospital dying the"greaser" are having one last showdown against the "socs," which the "greaser" win, but by the time it is over and they get to the hospital Johnny is just about to die. The book ends after Ponyboy's trail, which he is let off easy.