Written in 1997, this classic explores identity, society, and people. It is absolutely worth your time and my goodness do I wish I had read this in high school.

It truly encapsulates the confusion of an identity, what being an outsider feels like, and how pain is truly universal regardless of status. The Outsiders will make you think and is a novel that if you have not read is one you should pick up now. This is a novel for all ages and one that will enlighten you whilst making you cry. A major recommendation from me and like The Midnight Library, this novel has slid its way into my top 20 of all time.

Set over a two week period, this plot is told with a linear progression going from Point A to B and confidently connects everything at the end. Everything that Ponyboy goes through regarding friendship, his upbringing, his surroundings, and his place in life allows for true immersion in the journey making The Outsiders a novel with a great plot worth your time.

You experience highs and lows and the rolling hills of the story-telling make this plot great. What can I say expect for read.

Are you kidding me? Told in first-person perspective of Ponyboy, you don't solely experience this journey through only his eyes. You see it briefly from Dally's perspective, Johnny's, the socs and it makes the read all more powerful being able to experience all this viewpoints.

The characters in The Outsiders are real and you truly feel for and experience and understand these people. They are so well written and I am amazed that as a reader, I was able to glean such insight of other characters via a first-person POV. With roughly 7 main characters and Ponyboy at the lead, the characters make the story and are a 10/10 to read about.

I feel complete. When I need to sit and mull over my emotions, I know the novel was good. Sometimes I cry when I finish a book and it is happening more as I grow older and thankfully I don't mind it; if something makes you cry, it's okay to cry. The Outsiders made me cry, it is a powerful read.

Roughly 180 pages, this novel was written by SE Hilton and completed before she finished high school. Hilton started this novel when she was 15 and her writing reflects, in a positive way, what all teenagers go through - the feeling of being an outsider. The concept of being an outsider rings true to all and The Outsiders encapsulates that feeling very well. What I appreciated about the gang was that they weren't outsiders to each other, their friendship and love was genuine and I feel today, literature lacks novels about teenage boy friendship and is another aspect where The Outsiders knocked it out of the park.

From all the characters I was able to see into their lives and what made them feel like an outsider. From their parents, location, pain, status, and everything else life has to offer can make someone feel like an outsider and is why this novel hit hard.

I cried for Ponyboy, Two-Bit, SodaPop, Darry, Dally, and Johnny. Most of all, I cried for myself because I was them when I read this. I am tearing up writing because truly The Outsiders was beautiful and my thoughts on this novel is that it was real, honest, and believable.

This is a powerful novel that through the eyes of Ponyboy made me feel like my confusion and frustration regarding life are seen by others and heard. SE Hilton wrote a phenomenal novel and is a novel I will be rereading for the rest of my life. Absolutely fantastic.