Rumble Fish [Mass Market Paperback]

S.E. Hinton (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 1, 1989

“Stylistically superb. . . . This packs a punch that will leave readers of any age reeling.”—School Library Journal, Starred

“Sharper in focus and more mature in style than Hinton’s The Outsiders.”—Booklist

An ALA Best Books for Young Adults

A School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Rusty-James knows he is a tough teen, but he wants to be even tougher, just like his older brother, the Motorcycle Boy. He wants to stay calm and laugh when things get dangerous, to be the strongest streetfighter and the most respected guy this side of the river.

From the Inside Flap

Rusty-James knows he is a tough teen, but he wants to be even tougher, just like his older brother, the Motorcycle Boy. He wants to stay calm and laugh when things get dangerous, to be the strongest streetfighter and the most respected guy this side of the river.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf; PF edition (October 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440975344
• ISBN-13: 978-0440975342
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.4 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #66 in Books > Teens > Social Issues

More About the Author

Susan Eloise Hinton's career as an author began while she was still a student at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Disturbed by the divisions among her schoolmates into two groups--the Greasers and the Socs--Hinton wrote The Outsiders, an honest, sometimes shocking novel told from the point of view of an orphaned 14-year-old Greaser named Ponyboy Curtis. Since her narrator was male, it was decided that Hinton use only her first initials so as not to put off boys who would not normally read books written by women. The Outsiders was published during Hinton's freshman year at the University of Tulsa, and was an immediate sensation.Today, with more than eight million copies in print, the book is the best-selling young adult novel of all time, and one of the most hauntingly powerful views into the thoughts and feelings of teenagers. The book was also made into a film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and featuring such future stars as Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Matt Dillon, and Tom Cruise.Once published, The Outsiders gave her a lot of publicity and fame, and also a lot of pressure. S.E. Hinton was becoming known as "The Voice of the Youth" among other titles. This kind of pressure and publicity resulted in a three year long writer's block.Her boyfriend (and now, her husband), who had gotten sick of her being depressed all the time, eventually broke this block. He made her write two pages a day if she wanted to go anywhere. This eventually led to That Was Then, This Is Now.In the years since, Ms. Hinton has married and now has a teenaged son, Nick. She continues to write, with such smash successes as That Was Then, This Is Now, Rumble Fish and Tex, almost as well known as The Outsiders. She still lives in Tulsa with her husband and son, where she enjoys writing, riding horses, and taking courses at the university.In a wonderful tribute to Hinton's distinguished 30-year writing career, the American Library Association and School Library Journal bestowed upon her their first annual Margaret A. Edwards Award, which honors authors whose "book or books, over a period of time, have been accepted by young people as an authentic voice that continues to illuminate their experiences and emotions, giving insight into their lives."

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#56 in Books > Teens

#56 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Choose your heroes carefully. September 26, 2005

By T. Hunter-Selbrede VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I read this and the other S.E. Hinton staple books ("The Outsiders," "Tex," and "That Was Then, This is Now") repeatably as a teenager. Even then they were dated in literal context (i.e. gangs are between caucasian upper and lower class in this book), but they still captured the angsty spirit of being a teen and the changes that result from growing up. It also captured the brutility of living life in a gang. As usual, the author has parentless boys raising themselves, creating their own sense of 'family' plot-point. In this instance, there is a mother not seen through the protagonists eyes, but that of his brother who actually sought her out. Their father is an alcoholic, gambling non-entity.

Rusty is the perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. He, as well as not only his gang but rival gangs, look upon Motercycle Boy with awe. Motercycle Boy lives in another world that gives him a beyond 'cool' exterior. In a normal family life, he'd likely have grown into a professor of philosophy, but within the paradigm he exists, he is a suppressed ticking time bomb, but a remarkably passive one. He has fully accepted his lot in life, as well as his likely demise, and observes it from a distance that lacks sound and color.

:WARNING, SPOILERS!:

:WARNING, SPOILERS!:

:WARNING, SPOILERS!:

Rusty is insistent that he will be just like his brother when he grows up, though others around him scoff at the idea. He repeatedly point out that they look just alike and that once he finishing growing up, he will not only look identical but assume the 'coolness' of Motercycle Boy. He is correct, though not precisely the way he expected. After a bitter gang fight that causes the retreat of the only real stable point in his life, Steve, and then the police shooting death of his brother, Rusty suddenly experiences the lack of sound and color that was his brother's legacy of mild madness. The epilogue has a grown Steve running into Rusty as though he were seeing the ghost of Motercycle Boy. By this point, though, Rusty, as had his brother, had so thoroughly distanced himself from the world at large, that he was hard pressed to even remember his old friend.

I intend to give this to my son soon, for its lessons of violence and crime, as well as the poignancy of 'be careful what you wish for.'

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Rumble Fish December 14, 1999

By John Adam Wise

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Rumble Fish was a vey exciting book. This book my be written for young people, but the older people can really read it and put the words in your head and really think about what they mean. The book is written so that young minds can enjoy the book, but also written for older teenagers to put them to use. In Rumble Fish, Rusty, the main character, tries to be just like his older brother. Rudty's brother name is "Motorcycle Boy." He is known to be the toughest boy in the town. Rusty-James has a side kick named Steve. Steve and Rusty are one. He thinks the only way to resolve a problem is to fight about it. Rusty gets expelled from school and breaks up with his girlfriend all in the same day. Then one night Rusty goes out with his brother and he does'nt know where they are going. They get to the pet shop and? One night when Rusty-James and Steve need some help somone is not there? Rumble Fish is worth your time to read. You really can relate this to your life if you have a problem with fighting because you can take some notes out of this book, and maybe turn your life around. In some people's eyes the only way to reso,ve something is to fight it out. Grow up because there are other and better ways to solve problems other than fighting. Maybe when these people lean the better ways this world will be a better place.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Easiest Book to Read, The Hardest to Understand July 21, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Rumble Fish is an elusive, dark novel that gets deeper with meaning each time you read it. This book is NOT something to be read while watching TV. If you do, then I can garantee that you won't like it, let alone understand it. Being extremely vague of exactly where Rusty-James'story takes place, S.E Hinton has created a world where extreme violence is being thrown to the limits, and drugs are taking control of the streets. The Motorcycle Boy is definitely one the most complex characters in young adult literature today; he plays a huge part of the story, yet the reader can only imagine what he is really like. Reading from a phsycological point of view, Rumble Fish delves deeply into the heart of a dangerous fighter; the extreme physical and emotional pain of crying for the first time, what it's like to not be loved; a concept that was never touched on in any other of Hinton's novels. Overall, an INCREDIBLE read that will leave you breathless. Read it again when your twenty-five.