SOURCE: "Tough Puppies," in The Nation, Vol. 242, No. 9, March 8, 1986, pp. 276-78, 290.

In the following essay, Malone argues that Hinton's novels are not representative of average American teenagers or as realistic as they have been alleged to be, and he asserts that the appeal of Hinton's works among teenage readers is due mainly to their action-packed narratives, simplistic plot structures, intense emotional tone, and well-defined principles. Malone also examines the societal trends which make Hinton's works popular among American youngsters, ponders books for young adults as a literary category, and makes comparisons between Hinton's works and the James Dean films of the 1950s.

America at its saddest and dangerously silliest has the adolescent soul of a grade-B cowboy movie—violent and sentimental, morally and mentally simplistic. No doubt that's why a grade-B movie star still sits tall in the saddle of the Oval Office, sometimes quoting Dirty Harry and...