The Outsiders is a coming-of -age novel by Susan Eloise Hinton, First published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she began writing the novel, and 16 when it was published.  The book follows two rival groups, the Greasers and the Socs (pronounced by the author so-shes, short for social). who are divided by thier socioeconomic status.