The Outsiders

I love this book. I love its quirks, its low points, its high points. I love the characters almost as if they're real people, friends from another time and place. This isn't due to exceptional writing or flawless plot, but rather to the pure heart and soul of the story and depth to the characters.

When I first read this book, it was an English Language Arts assignment. The teacher would hand each of us a copy during class and we'd have to leave it behind because she only had one set for the entire grade. Two days in, I came home and begged my dad to buy me a copy of my own so I could finish reading without all the distractions and waiting between chapters. Yeah, I already had other books I loved, but something about this one enraptured me. Whereas other school reading assignments bored me, this one had heart and made sense on an emotional level. I understood the motives and feelings it presented and adored the setting portrayed for how real and unpolished it seemed.

I still have that copy of the book, purchased with love and support by the most important person in my life. I read it every couple of years, I love it so much.

No, the writing isn't perfect, but it doesn't need to be. It's raw and conversational and perfectly sets the tone. No, it's not terribly believable that there are kids named Ponyboy and Sodapop or that teenage street gang members go by ‘cute' names like Dally or Darry. But I can't imagine these characters by any other names because Hinton just makes it work. And the story portrayed both intrigues me and breaks my heart.

Dallas “Dally” Winston and Johnny “Johnnycake” Cade will forever own a little piece of my heart, and that's something which very few literary characters have accomplished. I cry over certain plot elements every time I read this book, and that to me makes it worth far more than five stars for still making me feel raw emotions all these years later.