Some books you simply miss. Your school didn’t read it, or you moved that year. The Outsiders is one of those books.
I also didn’t see the movie, so I was completely unaware of the story when I picked it up to read for my sixth grade class this fall. What is astounding is not only how beautifully it is written but the fact that it was published when the author graduated from high school.
“I knew I was going to be a writer. I love to write. I began in grade school, because I loved to read, and liked the idea of making stories happen the way I wanted them to. By the time I was in high school I had been practicing for years.” – S.E. Hinton
The Outsiders would be a tremendously powerful novel to read when I was an adolescent, but it is simply devastating to read as a parent.
I am looking forward to the deep conversations I know I will have with the sixth grade this year.