- In full:
- Susan Eloise Hinton
S.E. Hinton
Who is S.E. Hinton?
How old was S.E. Hinton when she wrote The Outsiders?
Why did S.E. Hinton use a pen name?
What are some of S.E. Hinton’s notable works other than The Outsiders?
S.E. Hinton (born July 22, 1950?, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.) is an American author known for writing about the difficult social system that teenagers create among themselves. Her fiction depicting that system struck a chord with young readers, who saw in it many elements of the system that existed in their own schools and towns. Her 1967 novel The Outsiders, which she published as a teenager, is often credited with modernizing young adult literature.
Some sources give 1948 or 1949 as the year Hinton was born. Notably, in August 1967 she published the article “Teen-Agers Are for Real” in The New York Times, with the byline, “Miss Hinton is the 19-year-old author of ‘The Outsiders,’ which was published earlier this year.” This confirms a 1948 birth date. However, in The Fourth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators (1978), Hinton provided an autobiographical statement in which she said, “I began the first draft of The Outsiders when I was fifteen. Nobody believes that, so I usually say sixteen; my editors say seventeen, just in case.” Her statements suggest she may be two years younger than what is indicated by her 1967 byline.
Early life and writing The Outsiders
Susan Eloise Hinton grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her mother worked in a factory and her father was a door-to-door salesman. Hinton attended Will Rogers High School and graduated in 1966. While she was a student there, she wrote her first book, The Outsiders. Following the suggestion of her editor, she wrote it under the name S.E. Hinton, in order to deflect attention from her gender.
Centering on a confrontation between rival groups of teenagers and its fallout, The Outsiders was inspired by an incident that happened to one of her friends. The book was immediately successful with critics and young readers, and it won several awards. Though the level of violence in the novel and in some of her subsequent works aroused controversy, Hinton was praised for her realistic and sometimes explosive dialogue. The success of The Outsiders enabled her to continue her education, and she graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1970.
Other popular novels and film adaptations
Hinton produced a few other books, although usually with large gaps between publication dates. Her other novels for young adults include That Was Then, This Is Now (1971), Rumble Fish (1975), Tex (1979), and Taming the Star Runner (1988). Each of those books features a cast of characters who suffer from society’s ills. Young people alienated from their families and from their peers are seen to veer onto criminal paths.
The first four of her young-adult books were adapted as motion pictures. The first film, Tex, was released in 1982 and starred Matt Dillon in the title role. The next year, the film versions of The Outsiders and Rumble Fish were released, both having been directed by Francis Ford Coppola and featuring casts that included many of Hollywood’s rising young stars. The film adaptation of That Was Then, This Is Now was released in 1985. A musical adaptation of The Outsiders debuted on Broadway in early 2024 and won a Tony Award for best musical later that year.
Children’s books and genre fiction
In the 1990s Hinton concentrated on writing children’s books. She published both Big David, Little David, a picture book, and The Puppy Sister in 1995. Hinton continued to write in the early 21st century, shifting gears once again. Hawkes Harbor, published in 2004, is a horror story directed toward an adult audience. Some of Tim’s Stories (2007), suitable for young adults, is a collection of short stories that together tell the tale of two cousins.