Think back to 1967. If you picked up a slim paperback called The Outsiders somewhere between then and your high school years, you were not alone. Millions of us did. And something about that book just stuck.
Here is the part that still amazes people. S.E. Hinton started writing it when she was 15. She had finished most of it by 16. It was published in 1967 when she was just 18 years old. She wrote it because she felt teenage life was not being portrayed honestly in fiction. Turns out, she was right, and millions of readers agreed.
According to Britannica, The Outsiders has now sold over 15 million copies in its 58 years in print. It has been translated into 30 languages. It ranks among the Greatest Books of All Time and appears on the BBC’s list of 100 Novels that Shaped Our World. Good Housekeeping also named it one of the best books ever written by a woman author.
Readers who revisit it today still describe it in the same breath. One called it the
“Best coming-of-age story I’ve ever read. It was funny, sweet, sad, and uplifting all at once. The story managed to teach a lot of moral lessons without being too melodramatic.”
Another noted that the writing feels completely real.
“The book feels authentic. The writer is talking in the first person on many accounts and about the neighborhood in general. The writing is direct, forceful, fast, and funny in places.”
For those of us who remember the book, 1983 brought a welcome surprise. Francis Ford Coppola brought The Outsiders to the big screen with one of the most remarkable young casts ever assembled. Ralph Macchio. Matt Dillon. C. Thomas Howell. Tom Cruise. Patrick Swayze. Emilio Estevez. Rob Lowe.
Many of those names became household words in the years that followed. But back then, they were just a group of young actors bringing a beloved story to life. The film quickly became one of the defining coming-of-age movies of the decade.
Now the story has found one more stage, literally. A Broadway musical adaptation opened in New York City on April 11 and went on to win four Tony Awards in 2024. That includes Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Lighting Design, and Best Sound Design.
Not bad for a book a teenager wrote in her bedroom more than half a century ago. Some stories really do stay gold.