Hinton's The Outsiders (1967) tells the story of the rivalry between two gangs.

In That Was Then, This Is Now (1971), Hinton depicts two foster brothers who drift apart as one becomes involved with drugs and crime and the other focuses on school.

Hinton's Tex (1979) describes two boys who can't rely on their unstable father and turn to each other for support.

Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War (1974) is a story of a boy who resists both a gang and the authority figures at his school.

Paul Zindel's The Pigman (1975) depicts two young people, alienated from their families, who turn to an old man for support and become involved in a tragedy.