SOURCE: "On the Hook," in The Times Literary Supplement, October 30, 1970, p. 1258.

In the following excerpt, the reviewer asserts that while adult readers may find the plot of The Outsiders heavy-handed and tedious, younger readers will be so enthralled by the character Ponyboy, who the reviewer identified as believable, that they will disregard what the reviewer assesses as the narrative's weaknesses.

The author and chief character are … identified with each other in The Outsiders, a novel already acclaimed in America as the expression of how teenagers feel. Its author is seventeen and capable of interesting a wider audience than the group she writes about. She reports on the class, social and physical warfare of two city gangs, the Greasers and the Socs, from the slums and the upper-middle class areas. Both lots suffer from parental absence or neglect and seek to realize themselves in feats of strength which lead...