10% off all books and free delivery over £40
Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks.

The Outsiders

"In a Nutshell: Teen rebellion * Class conflict * Gangs gone wrong "

View All Editions (5)

£8.99 £8.09

In Stock. Same day dispatch on orders before 3pm.

Add To Wishlist
Write A Review Read An Extract

LoveReading4Kids Says

LoveReading4Kids Says

A heartrending coming-of-age classic that blazed the trail for young-adult-oriented fiction long before YA was even a twinkle in publishers’ eyes.

With his parents dead, Ponyboy Curtis is looked after by his big brothers; Sodapop, who “understands everything, almost”, and Darry, who treats Ponyboy “as if I was six instead of fourteen”. The way Ponyboy sees it, there are two sorts of people. There are greasers who “steal things and drive souped-up old cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while”. And then there are Socs, who live on the rich side of the tracks, “jump greasers…and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next”. Ponyboy knows which side he’s been born into and is desperate to prove himself to his older greaser peers, so much so that he and his friend Johnny get embroiled in a “rumble” that sets a succession of tragic events in motion.

Published when the author was only eighteen, and now newly re-published as part of a series that showcases pioneering books for young adults, this is a truly seminal work that transcends the era in which it was written. The themes of class conflict and gang bravado are pertinent, and Ponyboy poignantly encapsulates that bolt-from-the-blue moment when the world is seen through adult eyes for the very first time. While their struggles and losses are deeply harrowing, the novel ends with a spark of hope that Ponyboy and his brothers will make it through, and make a future for themselves. 

Joanne Owen

Recommended Children's eBooks

Find This Book In

Suitable For:
Other Genres:
Recommendations:

About

Author

Collections Featuring This Book

You Might Also Like...

YA readers

The Sound of Everything

Rebecca Henry

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99

YA readers

The Boy I Am

K. L. Kettle

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99

YA readers

Tough Women

Jenny Tough

Paperback

In Stock

£9.89 £10.99

YA readers

The M Word

Brian Conaghan

Paperback

In Stock

£7.19 £7.99

YA readers

Are You Watching?

Vincent Ralph

Paperback

In Stock

£7.19 £7.99

YA readers

Speak

Laurie Halse Anderson

Paperback

In Stock

£11.69 £12.99