A junior high school boy idolizes his older brother, the coolest, toughest guy in the neighborhood, and wants to be just like him.

Sometimes they're called hoods, sometimes greasers. The name changes from place to place, but it doesn't matter -- they're the outsiders, the rough, tough, long-haired boys from the "other" side of town, with little hope for fancy cars and clothes and the good things of American life. This is their story as told by Ponyboy, a greaser with good reason to fear the Socs (the more privileged boys) and a witness to the savage baiting that leads his best...