“I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.”
S.E. Hinton’s classic book The Outsiders is the story of two groups: the Greasers and the Socs, two rival gangs from different ends of the socioeconomic pyramid. Told in first-person by teenage protagonist, Ponyboy Curtis, The Outsiders beautifully captures all of the excitement, intensity, emotions, and absurdity of being young. If you’re seeking more classic reads and contemporary stories that explore similar themes, discover the best coming-of-age books like The Outsiders here at What We Reading!
Who Wrote The Outsiders?
Susan Eloise Hinton was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is still regarded as one of the most influential young adult authors in American history. Provocative and impactful, she has been acclaimed as changing how young people and their literature are portrayed. The Outsiders was first published in April 1967 when Hinton was just eighteen. It has been adapted into a cult classic film, a television series, a dramatic stage portrayal and a stage musical.
Rumble Fish – S.E. Hinton
First up on our list of the best books like The Outsiders is another one of S.E. Hinton’s most famous works, Rumble Fish. Rusty-James is the toughest kid among his group of schoolmates who hang out and shoot pool at Benny’s. He’s always wanted to be like his big brother, Motorcycle Boy, acting cool and laughing when things get dangerous, relying on his fists and street fighting rather than his book smarts to keep his reputation in place.
So far, this has worked out well for Rusty-James. Whenever things go south, he can depend on Motorcycle Boy to bail him out. That is until one day when Motorcycle Boy isn’t there to help him as an explosive chain of events threatens to implode his world. Rumble Fish is a coming-of-age tale that presents a world where hope is hard to come by, and violence is a fundamental means of surviving.
Holes (Holes #1) – Louis Sachar
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s all Stanley Yelnats can be accused of when he is mistakenly thought to have stolen an expensive pair of sneakers in Louis Sachar’s Holes. Stanley is sent to a boys’ detention centre, Camp Green Lake, where the residents are taught the error of their ways by building holes five feet wide and five feet deep all day.
However, it doesn’t take Stanley long to realize there is much more to the camp than meets the eye. The warden is making the boys dig all these holes because she is looking for something. But what could be hidden at the bottom of a dried-out lake? Similar to The Outsiders, Sachar’s young-adult book is an inventive look at crime, punishment, redemption, and a reminder that human connection is something we all have in common.
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time – Mark Haddon
Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone knows every country and their capital city, as well as every prime number up to 7,057. He gets along well with animals, but struggles with human behaviours, especially being touched by others.
One evening, he discovers a dead dog in one of his neighbour’s gardens. This suspicious death from a pair of garden shears leads to Christopher embarking on an investigation into what has happened. It’s an investigation that goes awry when the dog’s owner reports the incident to the police, who promptly arrest Christopher. Things become even more tumultuous when he finally discovers who was responsible for the animal’s death in this sharp and captivating novel by Mark Haddon.
Monster (Monster #1) – Walter Dean Myers
Another coming-of-age crime book like The Outsiders comes from Walter Dean Myers in Monster. The first-ever Michael L. Printz Award winner and National Book Award finalist follows the story of sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon, who is on trial for murder.
Whether he is guilty or innocent, Steve suddenly finds himself at the hands of the ‘System’ and surrounded by burly inmates, all of whom would turn in anyone to shorten their sentences. To cope with his new environment, Steve, an amateur filmmaker, begins to transcribe the events of his life and trial as if they were a script. Going scene by scene, he traces how his whole life was flipped upside-down in an instant on the back of one decision. But, reality can often be blurred, and Steve’s recounting and imagination soon lead to him questioning who he really is and what has really happened.
Long Way Down – Jason Reynolds
Another National Book Award finalist similar to The Outsiders comes from New York Times bestselling author and poet Jason Reynolds in Long Way Down. A contemporary exploration of teenage gun violence told in staccato narrative verse, it spans just a sixty-second period or the length of one elevator ride.
Fifteen-year-old Will has a gun shoved in the back of his jeans as he gets on the elevator on the seventh floor. His brother, Shawn, was just murdered, and he knows the rules. No snitching. No crying. Just revenge. But, as the elevator stops on each floor, a new figure gets in to dish out more of the story to him, giving him a bigger insight into what he thought he knew. Incredibly powerful and beautifully written, readers follow Will throughout his elevator ride as he grapples with the dilemmas the cycle of violence brings.
Hatchet – Gary Paulsen
Another book like The Outsiders, Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, explores themes of the imprint loneliness, turmoil, and change can leave on a young person. While on his way to visit his estranged father, the pilot on Brian’s plane suffers a heart attack. Crash landing in a lake, Brian suddenly finds himself stranded and alone in the Canadian wilderness. The only thing he has with him is the hatchet his mother gave him before he left.
Exhausted, terrified, and without any real survival skills, Brian struggles to cobble together shelter and forage enough food to eat. Yet, the longer he survives, the more he learns to turn his adversity into an advantage. Shedding his self-pity in favour of a greater sense of survivalism, ‘Hatchet’ is a coming-of-age story of transformation and has been credited as being one of the best books for anyone with an interest in venturing into the wild.
Check Out The Best Books Like Hatchet
The Chocolate War (Chocolate War #1) – Robert Cormier
Like The Outsiders, Robert Cormier explores themes of conformity and free choice among adolescent boys in his Outstanding Book of the Year-winning work, The Chocolate War. Set in an all-boys Catholic school, readers follow Jerry Renault as he opens his locker and ponders the question left inside it: ‘Do I dare disturb the universe?’
Refusing to sell chocolates at the annual Trinity school fund-raiser may not appear to be the most radical stand to take. But refusing this one request immediately puts him in the crosshairs of the school’s secret society known only as The Vigils. Capturing all the cliques and calamities that come with growing up at that age, it is a smartly-told work that any fan of S.E. Hinton will happily sink their teeth into.
Homecoming (Tillerman Cycle #1) – Cynthia Voigt
James Tillerman says the same thing to his sister, Dicey, every morning: ‘It’s still true.’ It’s still true that their mother has abandoned the four Tillerman children somewhere in the middle of Connecticut. It’s still true that they have to evade the authorities and make their way to Great-aunt Cilla’s house, which represents perhaps their only chance of staying together as a family.
Cynthia Voigt’s beloved Tillerman Cycle follows the children as they make their way to Great-aunt Cilla’s in Bridgeport, only to learn that their relative has died. The house has been taken over by Cilla’s daughter, Eunice, but it is far from the family home they had been hoping for. All Dicey has ever hoped for is someone to take them in and love them. Someone they can trust. Yet, similar to The Outsiders, Voigt reminds readers that finding such an individual for some children isn’t so easy.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
