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Biographical
S.E. Hinton or Susan Eloise Hinton was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and wrote her first book at the age of 18 while still in high school. Her book The Outsiders was first published in 1967 and it was extremely successful. According to her biography webpage which can be found here: http://www.sehinton.com/bio.html Susan was not happy with the young adult literature available at the time of her writing The Outsiders and this encouraged her to create something different and new. Susan sold over 4 million copies of her first book and with the profits she was able to attend the University of Tulsa. This is where she met her future husband and biggest fan. Because she was a rather private person not much has been published about her personal life other than the fact that she herself loved to read and it was this love of reading that gave her the drive and determination to write.

Writing Style
The first book, The Outsiders was written while Susan was still in high school so the language is plain and pure and shows us the reality of where children of lower socio-economic status and few resources can end up if adults do not intervene in positive ways. The gang life is something that she was familiar with so this is why she chose to use this theme for her first book. Later, as she developed as an author her writing style was much more flexible however she continued writing young adult and children's literature. The language that she uses in her books is appropriate and right along the lines of typical teenage language. http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Outsiders_Hinton/The_Outsiders_Study_Guide17.html

Themes/Motifs
Her main focus is on young adult novels and her first set of books were about teen boys and their struggles. Her goal was to create realistic stories that reflected some of her own experiences. Writing about boys in gangs or brothers with differences were much different than the usual teen romance novels of her time period. She wanted to create something that young people could relate to and that people would react to and this is exactly what she did. Some people applauded her efforts and praised her originality and others did not appreciate the type of stories as they felt her writings encouraged poor behaviors.

Books
The list of her teen themed books include:

The Outsiders - published 1967 - A 14 year old boy named Ponyboy Curtis lives on the fringes of society and feels like an outsider. When his best friend kills a member of a rival gang life suddenly go spinning out of control.

That Was Then, This is Now - published 1971 - A story of two brothers who are growing apart until a secret is revealed.

Rumble Fish - published 1975 - Growing up in a tough neighborhood Rusty James who's brother is the leader of a gang, wishes to be just like his brother. Fighting is a regular thing for Rusty until one day he is sent away. This book is about street gangs

Tex - published 1979 - Two brothers living alone in a broken down house. Their father has not returned home after 5 months of being away and one brother is trying to keep things together while the other (Tex) just can't seem to keep out of trouble.

Taming of the Star Runner - published 1988 - Travis is sent to live with his uncle on a ranch and his rough city ways are not helping him fit in until he meets Casey who struggles with taming her horse, Star Runner. The horse, like Travis is difficult to tame.

Criticisms
Back when her first book was released in 1967 it was a shockingly honest portrayal of teen life on the wrong side of the tracks. The rough and tumble, violent, cigarette smoking characters were not something that was commonly written about in teen novels. Teen romance and kids making good choices were the most common reading available to teens of the day however, S.E. Hinton took a risk and created and award winning book that depicted life on the streets which is a book that can still ring true to today. Even though the Socs and the Greasers are no more, we still divide ourselves up into groups or cliques which has helped this book remain relevant. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/books/review/Peck-t.html

Awards/Movies
1988 - Margaret A. Edwards Award

1998 - Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame

1982 - Tex - Directed by Tim Hunter

1983 - The Outsiders - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

1983 - Rumble Fish - Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

1985 - That Was Then, This is Now - Directed by Christopher Cain

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