Susan Eloise Hinton

Susan Eloise Hinton is an American author, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1950. As a young writer, Hinton decided to write under her initials in order to deflect attention from her gender. She set out to write about the difficult social system that teenagers create among themselves. Her books struck a chord with adolescents who saw in her characters many elements of this system that existed in their own schools and towns.

In 1967, while she was still in high school, Hinton published her first book, The Outsiders. The story of confrontation between rival groups of teenagers was immediately successful with critics and young readers, and it won several awards. There was some controversy about the level of violence in the novel and in her other works, but Hinton was praised for her realistic and explosive dialogue. The financial, as well as literary, success of The Outsiders enabled Hinton to continue her education in college.

She graduated from the University of Tulsa in 1970. Her other novels for young adults included That Was Then, This Is Now, published in 1971; Rumble Fish, in 1975; Tex, in 1979; and Taming the Star Runner, in 1988. Each of her books featured a cast of characters suffering from society’s ills. Young people alienated from their families and from their peers were seen to veer into criminal paths.  Several of her books, including The Outsiders and Rumble Fish, were later adapted as motion pictures.