The Life and Works of S.E. Hinton Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Life and Works of S.E. Hinton - Essay Example S.E. Hinton boasts of seven bestselling novels (The Outsiders (1967), That Was Then, This Is Now (1971), Rumble Fish (1975), Tex (1979), Taming the Star Runner (1988), Puppy Sister (1995) and Hawkes Harbor (2004)), three classified as omnibus of novels (Outsiders / Rumble Fish / That Was Then, This Is Now (1995), An S.E. Hinton Collection (2001), and Some of Tim's Stories (2007)), one picture book (Big David, Little David (1995)), and one upcoming omnibus of a novel Some of Tim’s Stories in paperback which consists of â€Å"fourteen original stories depicting adults trapped in lives of missed connections and opportunities†. From among her seven novels, four were made into movies depicting the appeal of their themes to the masses. Most of her themes center on loyalty, transformation accorded through age, identity search, and abandonment. She was able to depict real-life situations written in the point of view of the audience in context. Peck averred in his book review wr itten in New York Times, â€Å"The Outsiders† shocked readers with its frank depictions of adolescent smoking, drinking and â€Å"rumbling†. Although other pop culture offerings had dealt with themes – most notably â€Å"Rebel Without a Cause† and â€Å"West Side Story† – their intended audience was an adult. By contrast, â€Å"The Outsiders† was a story â€Å"for teenagers, about teenagers, written by a teenager†. (Peck par. 1). However, the success of The Outsiders was measured by Hinton in terms of its ability to bring back the joys of reading to children.