“After failing creative writing in her junior year of high school,  [S.E. Hinton] wrote The Outsiders [when she was 16.]  She sold the book when she was 17.  It was published when she turned 18.”

Read the full NY Times interview with S. E. Hinton

Video Interview with S.E. Hinton on Movie Location in Tulsa
(This is a spoiler if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie.)