The Outsiders Enrichment Project By: Nick Fretto

Background of S.E. Hinton ❖ Susan Eloise Hinton was born on July 22, 1950 in Tulsa Oklahoma. ❖ She has always enjoyed reading but was not satisfied with the literature that was being written for young adults, which influenced her to write novels The Outsiders.

Hobbies ❖ Susan has always enjoyed horseback riding; she has shown both jumping and dressage. ❖ She also enjoys occasionally taking a class at the University of Tulsa - Not for credit - She likes when you do not have to take the tests.

How Reading and Writing Became the Passion ❖ Since Oklahoma did not have many activities for girls in this time, Reading and Writing became her pastimes. ❖ At a young age she wanted to be a cattle rancher, but that ambition was soon overcome by her love for reading and writing.

The Inspiration of The Outsiders ❖ As she grew up in her teens, she realized that nothing interested her as much as she wanted, like writing did. The typical “girl meets boy” stories were very emblematic and monotonous for her. ❖ She wanted something more realistic, a story about what it is really like in the teenage. Taking events that actually happened in her life, she wrote The Outsiders.

About the Socs and Greasers and the Succes ❖ Hinton created the story about two gangs and their rivalry. The gangs belonged to two different classes of society- The upper-class, “socs” and the Lower to Middle Class, “greasers”. ❖ The book first received some critique, then it became one of the most renowned novels of the time! It sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. ❖ Using the profits of her sales, she joined the University of Tulsa where she got her degree.

More About the Characters “The Outsiders” is the raw, but hopeful story of rival gangs that features narrator Ponyboy Curtis, the bookish greaser who can quote Robert Frost; macho Dallas Winston, blue eyes “blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world”; and little Johnny Cade, a “dark puppy that has been kicked too many times.” “I could picture hundreds and hundreds of boys living on the wrong sides of cities, boys with black eyes who jumped at their own shadows,” Hinton wrote in the novel. “Hundreds of boys who maybe watched sunsets and looked at stars and ached for something better.”

Books ❖ The Outsiders, 1967 ❖ Rumble Fish, 1975 ❖ That was Then, This is Now, 1971 ❖ Tex, 1979 ❖ Taming the Star Runner, 1988 ❖ Hawkes Harbor, 2004 ❖ Tim’s Stories, 2007 ❖ Big David, Little David, 1995 ❖ The Puppy Sister, 1995

Movies ❖ Tex, 1982 ❖ The Outsiders, 1983 ❖ Rumble Fish, 1983 ❖ That was Then, This is Now, 1985

Awards ❖ Outsiders: New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Book List, 1967 ❖ Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Festival Honor Book, 1967 ❖ Media and Methods Maxi Award, 1975 ❖ American Library Association Best Young Adult Books, 1975 ❖ Massachusetts Children's Book Award, 1979

The Outsiders Connection ❖ Based on the Information of why Hinton had written the book, it shows the more about the setting and the characters. ❖ The setting is where she grew up, Tulsa Oklahoma and based on real life events. (just like in the book) ❖ The characters are what she imagined of the people on the other side of the city. (just like in the book) ❖ The time of the book was also the 1960's ❖ She lives in Tulsa like all the characters do as well. ❖ Her hairstyle was the same as the characters ❖ She was also not apart of either the socs nor greasers, but felt more at home with the greasers ❖ She also knew that the characters she imagined hoped for something better (like in the book) ❖ Based on real life events ❖ She made the book very realistic like she wanted young literature to do for the readers

Work Cited "Biography." S.E. Hinton, 12 Jan Web. 22 Jan legacy.utsandiego.com. Union Tribune, n.d. Web. 28 Jan "S.E. Hinton." N.p., Web. 23 Jan "S.E. Hinton Awards." Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 14 Jan Web. 25 Jan