Having just finished a buddy read of The Outsiders (which was a reread for me), my co-conspirators fellow sufferers buddies and I agreed that we would all post a book review on our respective blogs. (Which reviews I'll link once they're up.)

I know y'all have been hearing me squeal about this a lot lately, but it deserves all the squees! So I am not one bit sorry. 😇

Genre: YA
Length: 180 pages

My Rating: 💖💖💖💖💖✨

I initially discovered The Outsiders as a "you may also like..." recommendation on Goodreads. The more I looked at the description, the more I wanted to read it. For whatever reason, I love midcentury JDs (I'm weird, I know), and I also thought it would be helpful for cultural research (since I'm writing about the 60s, and some of my characters come from a similar background).

The Plot

I can't say much here without giving spoilers . . .

The book follows fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis (the narrator) and his friends. They're greasers: the low-income kids, the hoods from the East Side of town, and their archnemeses are the Socs, the rich kids from the West Side. Socs like to jump greasers and beat them up for fun, and they frequently have rumbles between the two groups. It's just the way life is.

But one night, Ponyboy and Johnny have a run-in with a group of Socs who have a chip on their shoulder, and things take a wild turn . . .

The Characters

(I still haven't done fanart - bad me! - I don't have Legos for all the guys, and the movie cast isn't entirely accurate, so I'll just leave the list without pictures. ☹️)

But man, I love these characters so much!!! They're the type that you keep discovering new things about them every time you read the book. They're so incredibly alive, and I just want to climb into the story and give them all a big hug (though most of them would probably hate me for it 😆).

Ponyboy Curtis is a thoughtful kid who likes watching sunsets. He's the youngest member of the gang, Soda and Darry's kid brother. He doesn't exactly take pride in being a greaser, and doesn't excuse their behavior. Like Darry, he doesn't want to grow up as a hood, he wants to make something better of his life.

Sodapop Curtis is one of the two class clowns, a joker who never passes on an opportunity to ham it up. But he's more than just a goof-off; underneath his exterior, he's a very broken person who's had too much loss for a 16-year-old. He dropped out of high school, but that doesn't bother him; he's happy working at the DX gas station.

Darrel "Darry" Curtis is only 20, but life forced him to grow up fast after his parents died. He works two jobs and has given up a LOT so that he can keep the family together and take care of his younger brothers. He's not a greaser like the rest - if it weren't for them, he'd be a Soc - but he'll take the position of leader because the rest of the gang looks up to him. Darry had to drop out of college, so he wants Ponyboy to succeed where he wasn't able to, and he pushes Pony to make something out of his life. (I love Darry. I'm saying it now - I LOVE DARRY.)

(The only reason Darry has a normal name is because he's named after his father. 😆)

Johnny Cade is the baby of the gang - not in age, but they all love him and would give anything to protect him. Poor kid has it rough at home, with his parents always fighting and frequently hitting him. A few months before the story begins, he got jumped by some Socs and badly beaten up, and he's been skittish ever since. Like Ponyboy, he's kind and sensitive, and wouldn't hurt a living thing if he could help it. Dally Winston is his biggest hero.

Keith "Two-Bit" Mathews is the other joker of the gang. Life is meant to be enjoyed, and he doesn't take much seriously. He has an amazing propensity for dispensing hilarious comments that make me snort. 😆 But despite his happy-go-lucky attitude, he's a gentleman who always looks out for the people around him - he'd even be ready to go down to Texas to look for a missing friend.

Steve Randle, Soda's best buddy, gets the least screen time in the book, and I don't think people understand him very well. His dad doesn't get along with him the greatest, which hurts him a lot, though he tries to hide it under a tough exterior. He doesn't always like it when Ponyboy tags along with him and Soda (understandable), but he's a good fighter and devoted to his gang.

Dallas "Dally" Winston is the only real hood of the gang; he grew up in New York, has a long record with the police, and he's proud of it. He's tough as nails, talks rough, and likes nothing better than blowing off steam in a fight . . . but he does have a few vulnerable spots. There's only one thing he loves, and that's Johnny. For some reason, Johnny means more to him than the world, and he'd do anything to protect him.

Sherri "Cherry" Valance is a Soc, but that doesn't mean she can't see a greaser for who he really is. I have a hard time finding female characters I like, but I SERIOUSLY admire Cherry. She can be tough when she needs to, stands up despite her fear, and is willing to do the right thing. Even when she's hurting, she's still willing to forgive and reach out a helping hand.

What I Liked

Umm . . . everything? 😂 Or nearly everything. I ADORE the gang (found family gets me every time), the setting, the self-sacrifice and heroism. The humor, the rumble, the deep thoughts, and the sunsets. And the SIBLINGS! Y'all know how much I adore a good sibling rep, and even though the Curtis Bros don't always get along with each other, it's clear that they still love each other fiercely. 💕🥹 Also there's not a dumb romance - winnnnn!!!!! 🙌 Sure, they talk about girls sometimes, and Soda has a girlfriend at the beginning, but it never gets into mushy territory.

What I Didn't Like

Very little, actually. 😆 I could've done with less cigarette smoking (it doesn't bother me with soldiers, but these kids are all underage), and I didn't like what happened to some people (but as an author I know why it happened 😭), and Ponyboy was a touchy li'l thing sometimes, but overall this book is awesome. One of my new all-time favorites. 💕

Relevant Songs

Umm, so I adore coming up with playlists for stuff 😅 and in our buddy read group we were discussing which songs had the right vibes for The Outsiders. I don't feel like looking up and linking a bunch of songs, so if you want to listen to them you can look 'em up yourself. 😆 Here's what I came up with . . . *drum roll* 🥁 The Outsiders, as brought to you by (mostly) for KING + COUNTRY!!!

• Leader of the Pack (the Shangri-Las)
  (none of the guys own a motorcycle, but it's got allllll the vibes!)
• Men With Broken Hearts (Hank Williams)
• Relate (for KING + COUNTRY)
• Long Live (for KING + COUNTRY)
• You Are More (Tenth Avenue North)
  (just because I want these kids to hear that message 😭)

And for the characters . . .

• Ponyboy: Place in This World (for KING + COUNTRY)
• Sodapop: Together (for KING + COUNTRY)
• Darry: We Gotta Get Out of This Place (The Animals)
• Johnny: Blackbird (the Beatles)
• Two-Bit: Let the Good Times Roll (the Cars)
• Steve: Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
• Dally: Burning Bridges (the Mike Curb Congregation)
• Cherry: Ceasefire (for KING + COUNTRY)

I know, I know, only a few of those are from the right era. Do I care? Absolutely not. 😂

Content & Age Range

For a content list (and other incoherent rambling) you can see my Goodreads review here! I'd recommend this for ages 13 and up, depending on the maturity of the reader. Some of it might be a little much for younger kids, but overall I think the content is handled pretty tastefully.

Final Thoughts

While the author isn't a Christian, I think this is a book that every Christian ought to read. I feel like so many of us are often stuck in our little happy lives ("Stained Glass Masquerade", anyone?) and we don't realize what's going on in the lives of others around us. We don't bother to look past what they seem to be on the surface, and we can't see the hurt and trouble they might be hiding.

The last few paragraphs of the book get me every time. 😭 It's a plea not to let the cycle go on, to reach out and help the kids trapped on the wrong side of the law. I've always had a heart for teenagers and JDs in particular, and reading this just intensified that goal. I want to see God get ahold of real-life Outsiders and transform them! 💕

Anyway, HIGHLY recommended. This book made me cry repeatedly, and as someone who rarely cries over books anymore, that means it was really, REALLY impactful. There are SO many good quotes, and I already put two of them up on my motivation wall! I know The Outsiders will be staying with me for a long time, no doubt influencing my writing, and the characters will be living rent-free in the space reserved for "best characters ever". 🥰

I know this book won't be for everyone. It's not exactly easy subject matter (not everyone has a soft spot for JDs like I do 😆) and could potentially be depressing. But if it sounds like something you'd be remotely interested in, I'd definitely encourage you to give it a try! 😊

Your turn! Have you read The Outsiders? If so, what are your thoughts; and if not, have I convinced you to read it? 😉

(Ava, Journey, I beat you to it! 😏)

Stay gold, y'all. 💛