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S. E. Hinton

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S. E. Hinton is a famous American author. She is best known for writing books for young adults. Many of her stories take place in Oklahoma. She is often credited with starting the young adult genre. This means she helped create a new way for writers to tell stories just for teens.

Hinton began her most famous work while she was still in high school. She started writing her first novel, The Outsiders, in 1965. She was only sixteen years old when it was published in 1967. The book was inspired by two rival groups at her school, Will Rogers High School. These groups were called the Greasers and the Socs. Hinton wanted to write from the point of view of the Greasers.

Her career has had many interesting turns. Her publisher suggested she use her initials instead of her full name. They worried male reviewers might ignore her books because she was a woman. Hinton liked using her initials to keep her private life separate too. She wrote several more books for teens in the 1970s and 1980s. These include That Was Then, This Is Now and Rumble Fish.

Hinton has achieved great success with her writing. The Outsiders has sold more than 14 million copies. In 2017, Viking Press said it still sells over 500,000 copies every year. By 1982, her first four novels had sold over 10 million copies. She received the Margaret Edwards Award in 1988 for her work with teens. She was also put into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame in 1998.

Many of her stories have moved from the page to the screen. Several of her books became famous movies. Francis Ford Coppola directed films for The Outsiders and Rumble Fish. Hinton even helped write the script for Rumble Fish. She also acted in three of these films. She played a nurse in one and a teacher in another. Today, she lives in Tulsa with her husband and son.

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