That Was Then, This Is Now

This book is so heartbreaking and relatable. I loved it.

Do you like action drama mystery and guilt then this book is for you.this book is the second trilogy to the Outsiders I would recommend this book to ages 13 and up this tells about 2 teens in new york about to embark on a journey to adult hood two brothers growing apart.

When I was in tenth grade, my English teacher read "The Outsiders" by S. E. Hinton to the class. I loved the book so much that I reread it one year later and consider it one of the best examples of fiction about teenagers. While this book isn't quite the caliber of "Outsiders" it is another excellent novel about teenagers experiencing troubles. Bryon and Mark are teenage boys who are juvenile delinquents. They live in the same house and call each other brothers, even though they are not. Mark's parents shot and killed each other in a confrontation over the fact that the man knew that he was not Mark's biological father. After their deaths, Mark moved in with Bryon and his mother. Although Bryon's mother is put forward as a good woman, she pays little attention to the boys. They stay out as late as they want, occasionally not coming home for days. They are in trouble a great deal although Mark is one of those people who always seems to be able to charm his way out of difficult situations. As the story unfolds, the boys get in fights, hustle pool, Bryon falls in love, one of their older friends gets killed in a gun battle defending them, Mark starts selling drugs and Bryon sees a young innocent boy ruin his life taking drugs. Bryon begins correcting his life, he gets a job, gets good grades and reports Mark over to the police. At the end, Bryon goes to visit Mark in the juvenile jail and he realizes that Mark hates him and would kill him if he had the chance. The jail time turns Mark into a hardened criminal, or more precisely causes those tendencies to come to the surface. There is no happy ending to this story, just an ending that could have been much sadder than it was. These are boys who have little chance to make something of their lives, although Bryon is on the path to some form of success. Hinton writes very well and is good at describing the near hopelessness of the lives of the people. While it is clear that some of the characters are very bright and could have a future, the circumstances make it unlikely to impossible. Note: Ponyboy Curtis, one of the main characters in "Outsiders" appears in this book.

I have loved this book since I was a child and it remains one of my favorites today.The protagonist is a bright, articulate boy named Byron. He lives with his almost nonexistent mother and his adopted brother, Mark. An accomplished car thief ("nothing to hot wiring," according to him) and lover of fights, Mark is bad news. Byron describes him in an almost feral way; Mark had leonine coloring and features and his most outstanding feature is his amber colored eyes. Being with Mark is like a roller-coaster ride. Byron enjoys the excitement that living on the edge with Mark can bring. The characters are sharp and richly drawn as is the Oklahoma town of the mid-1960s where the story takes place. One gets a strong, compelling sense of the characters and the dividing line in their immediate community. The "Greasers," so called because of their love for Elvis and tendency to use hair grease are looked down upon because they tend to live on the "wrong side of the tracks." The Socs, (short for "Socialites") on the other hand are their affluent counterparts. Byron falls hard for a Soc girl and takes her little brother, nicknamed M & M under his wing. The girl later ends up dating Byron's friend, the weirdly named Ponyboy who is in Byron's social circle. The kids in this work, as in all of S. E. Hinton's works are highly independent. Adult characters are peripheral at best. The story is really about the young people in the Oklahoma community and their issues, confrontations and interactions.Guns, drugs and violence are all part of the story. The conflict between the Socs and the Greasers is like "West Side Story" with bite, punch and gritty attitude. I love it! S. E. Hinton is a highly gifted writer. She has a real gift for voice, place and character development. This work is very compelling and will leave you thinking about the characters and the various fates they meet long after you turn the last page.

This book, a semi-sequel to SE Hinton's first novel, the Outsiders, proves to be one of the finest books I've ever read. I'm in my mid-teens now, so I'm not too far from the age of Mark and Bryon. Right now things have changed so much and now that I've read this book, I understand that these problems are normal and that things do change.The issues with Mark and Bryon are so complex that they will eat at your skin and hurt you deeply because this stuff is just normal and it can happen to anyone at any time. Aside from being a guide to reality, she reincorporates some of her older characters and they play nice roles in this story. All in all, it's one of my favorites. Completely recommended.

"That was Then, This is Now" was an excellent book. S.E. Hinton did a wonderful job keeping me in suspense the whole time. I read it for a school assignment, but I finished it before my time limit was up because I just couldn't put it down. I felt like I really knew the characters and what they were going through, which was something I had never felt before. All in all, it was a wonderful book filled with laughter and tears, and was not the least bit disappointing.

This is a powerful book that is excellently written. It tells of a teenager who is finding himself and must make decisions that ruin friendships and effect his life. Throughout this boy's maturing, many characters are introduced. The characters almost come alive, they are so real. Toward the end of the book, I found myself in tears as the boy makes a necesary decision that SEEMS right, that appears to be the moral decision, but the outcome doesn't seem fitting and it made me wonder whether he made the right choice, whether that was the right decision.This book is very life-like, very real. S.E. Hinton is my favorite author and she writes about what she knows; thus, the situations are easy to relate to. Infact, without even meaning to, I found myself relating to the story, comparing it to my life. The knowledge I received from this book will help me make decisions as I get older. If you are a young adult searching for who you are, or someone trying to make the right decisions in life, you need to read this book! It makes you think and ask yourself, "What is the right choice? What did this boy do wrong?" Apply it to your life and learn from the lesson, almost hidden, in this book