Susan Eloise Hinton was only 15 when she began writing The Outsiders, and just 17 when it was first published. She became frustrated with the lack of relatable books for teenagers at the time, and decided to write her own. "I'd wanted to read books that showed teenagers outside the life of ‘Mary Jane went to the prom,’" Hinton explained a 1981 interview with Seventeen. "When I couldn't find any, I decided to write one myself. I created a world with no adult authority figures, where kids lived by their own rules.”
While she may have been aiming to write a book about teenagers for teenagers, Hinton didn’t just rely on the compelling plot of the book to make it one of the most beloved—and controversial—young adult novels ever published. Her use of figurative language added power, insight, and beauty to her story, and showed readers her skills as a wordsmith at the top of her game. If she could write like that at sixteen, perhaps you can, too. So let’s brush up on your understanding of figurative language.