It is my intention to try and read some of the pile of books by my bed rather than just balance cups of tea on them so I’ve set myself a few targets.
The first was to read ‘The Outsiders’ by S.E.Hinton which Tom had said was a must read. It is, he was right. Given it was written by a teenager in the 1960s I was expecting something that felt much more dated. I was surprised to discover that the only thing dated was possibly the hair styles and clothes and that you quickly accepted. The themes are universal and timeless – disadvantaged because of who you are and where you come from.
‘Course this has also made it onto the ‘banned books’ lists over the years produced by the ALA due to the drinking, broken homes and lack of adults (it is also pretty violent with three deaths though parents who demand books to be removed from libraries rarely seem to do so because of violence). As always you are left wondering why anyone would feel teenagers shouldn’t read this – it is a very powerful read but very much for the forces of good.
Given the width of topic and quality it’s going on my Int1 recommend list and a possibility for my book group. For more details Spark notes are available online here
