'Doing every writer a favor'

 

“Any writer who gives a reader a pleasurable experience is doing every other writer a favor because it will make the reader want to read other books. I am all for it.” – S.E. Hinton

 

Born in Oklahoma on this date in 1948, Hinton became a household name in her teens when she wrote The Outsiders, her first and most popular novel. She began writing it in 1965 inspired by two rival gangs, the Greasers and the Socs, at Will Rogers High School where she was a senior.  Her desire was to show sympathy toward the Greasers by writing from their point of view.

 

To date, it’s sold more than 14 million copies (still over 100,000 annually), has been made into a movie and is a Tony-winning Broadway play.  Hinton, who is credited with starting the YA genre, has been acclaimed for the realism and attention to the details that Young Adults not only identify with but also embrace.  They say she is a true spokesperson for their points of view and America’s librarians agree.  The American Library Association awarded her its inaugural Margaret A. Edwards Award for her cumulative contribution in writing for teens.  

 

Among Hinton’s other top sellers are That Was Then, This Is Now; Rumble Fish; and Tex, also all adapted into movies.  Hinton is a member of the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame and acclaimed for “books that leave a reader both satisfied and wanting more. 

 

“I love to write ending lines,” she said.  “Usually, I know them first and write toward them, but (even) if I knew how they came to me, I wouldn't tell.”