Outsiders?

Abstract

The idea of the outcast, the loner, the outsider is so common in YA it is found as the title of one of YA’s flagship titles. The feelings of alienation within society ring true in the greasers/socs battles of The Outsiders (Hinton, 1967). However, even in S.E. Hinton’s book, the outsider is not alone; the title’s last letter–making the solitary “Outsider” a member of a collective group of “OutsiderS”–is an inclusionary act on the behalf of Hinton: we are outsiders together.