What Genre Is The Outsiders?

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, was published in 1967. It is about two gangs—the Socs and the Greasers—and their struggle for power in a small town called Tulsa. It was adapted into a film in 1983 by Francis Ford Coppola, who directed it and also starred in it as Ponyboy Curtis. The film featured Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, and Rob Lowe as members of the Greasers gang; Patrick Swayze played the role of Soc leader Dallas Winston. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture (with its screenplay being nominated as well). Today The Outsiders is considered to be a classic novel of American literature and is often taught in high schools throughout the country; it has also been included on many national reading lists over the years. In addition to its literary merit, it has been praised for its portrayal of teenage life as seen through the eyes of young people living under difficult circumstances during the 1960s and 1970s (a period referred to by some historians as “The Me Generation” because young people often focused on themselves at the expense of others). Many people consider The Outsiders to be one of the founders of the young adult genre.