Tightly written and extremely sympathetic portrayal of a 14 year old boy in a gang, and the violence which surrounds him and his friends. It's not my usual reading material, but it's so thoughtful, with such a lack of judgement, that the novel deserves the fame it's received over the years. Written by a sixteen year old girl I believe, and she has the most extraordinary voice - distinctive and consistent. Ponyboy (the main character) never feels less than real, and it would be very easy, I think, to fall into stereotypes given that this is really quite a short novel... verging on a long novella, almost. Yet for the most part those stereotypes are subverted, and nearly all the characters have their humanity underlined regardless of their actions. Which probably explains why the book's been banned so often... it must be easier to swallow delinquency if you can convince yourself that the delinquent isn't much of a person underneath.