Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com This is the story of the greasers and the Socs, the two social groups in the boys' town. The greasers are kind of a family of friends, because for most of them all they have is each other. The Socs are more violent and like to fight. They are the rich kids who have things that the greasers can only dream of. They fight every once in a while -- but one night someone takes it too far. From that point on the story surrounds the two boys who are on the run from the "fuzz" (police). The story is told from the viewpoint of Ponyboy Curtis, who is a fourteen-year-old greaser. He has two brothers, Darry Curtis and Sodapop Curtis. Their parents were killed a few years back, but the courts let them stay together as long as they stayed out of trouble. This book is about so much more than the cliché of popular boys vs. loser boys. There are feelings and characters that you want to see succeed. That's what makes this book different from all the others, in a good way of course. I liked that the characters seemed so real, like you really knew them! I love it when a book is like that. There are internal conflicts with many of the characters as well as the good vs. evil aspect. Everyone in eighth grade should be required to read this book!