The Outsiders

Did you have to read The Outsiders in school?  I remember reading it in 7th grade at Elgin Middle School.  S. E. Hinton wrote it when she was only 16.  We were in Oklahoma, she was from Oklahoma, and the novel was set in Oklahoma, so I guess it just fit.  It was also one of the reasons I loved school. 

I didn't really care for most of the other people at school, but still liked being in class.  I remember coming to last period English on a hot day like almost every day.  The shades were drawn half way and the room was cool.  Miss Kerr started reading to us.  The whole class was silent, following along in our books until the bell rang.  It's nice to be drawn into a story like that and silently share it with so many people around you.

On a side note, have you read The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac?  I've never read any of his books, even though they had an exhibit about Kerouac at the Orange County History Center while I volunteered there.  (He wrote it in Orlando.)