SOURCE: "Urban Guerrillas," in The Times Literary Supplement, April 2, 1976, p. 388.

In the following excerpt, Powell faults Rumble Fish for lacking a protagonist who, like those of The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now, possesses superior wit and insight that enable him to rise above the violence and turmoil of his surroundings. Rumble Fish's Rusty-James, Powell argues, is victimized by his environment, and his victimization creates a pervasive air of failure and despair which diminishes the novel.

S. E. Hinton's Rumble Fish was disappointing. Hooked on Ms. Hinton since I discovered how popular The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now are with adolescents, this came as a let-down. The earlier two books also deal with the American delinquent scene, but in both the central character has an intelligence and sensitivity which set him apart from his peers.

He involves himself in desperate situations largely...