S.E. Hinton's, "The Outsiders"

Now seems as fine a time as any to pen my second post (with my apologies for the double dose -- I only now just noticed the two per week requirement.  Oops!) as well as particularly fitting since my first book pick is one that could justifiably be considered one of the originals in street lit, "The Outsiders."  It is also, I'm ashamed to say, one of the few titles on our assigned list that I hadn't already read.  Feel free to call me a nerd, that I am, but to clarify, I am a nerd with longstanding aversion to the "classics"
("Tale of Two Cities," freshman year, sheer horror of horrors, and the discover that Dickens absolutely bored me to tears, but I digress).  Thus, I chose Hinton's book as my first read in order to finally check that baby off my list, and, I'm so, so very glad that I did because it totally rocked my world while likewise provided a much needed reminder: classic doesn't = it sucks (which I obviously should know).

But, back to "The Outsiders," a book that is simply ripe for class discussion (so why wasn't I assigned it in high school, inquiring minds want to know...)  There's simply so much analytical and debatable fodder here, social class, gang warfare, loss, courage, coming-of-age, friendship, the meaning of family, male emotion, and the variations of "maternal" love, to name but a few.  The book just strikes so many a chord, and throughout the course of my read, I found myself continually shaking my head and marveling over the fact that Hinton was but a mere 16 (16!) years old when she authored this work.  Her understanding of the depth and gradation of human emotion coupled with her ability to convey it so eloquently, all I can say is "Wow!"  Of course the fact that she accomplished this feat while a teen herself is itself another means with which to connect students to text, and I readily confess that I'm excited to someday (soon) share the love.  One thought, pair it with Jacqueline Woodson's "Miracles Boys," an exemplary modern African American teen classic, which I only recently realized borrowed rather heavily (and beautifully compliment with that old wonderful Woodson spin) from Hinton's 1967 publication.  Proof positive that the classics, the REAL classics, are absolutely timeless.

The question(s) I pose to my cohort members / partners in crime is this, I'm guessing that many of you (alas, younger) folk did actually encounter this novel at some point during your pre-collegiate academic career; and, if so, what were your experiences like?  Is your reaction, response, opinion different now, as an adult?  And, if you were to teach "The Outsiders" in class, how might you choose to do so?  (Yeah, I totally plan to myself borrow heavily from your creative and grand ideas!)  :)