American author, S. E. Hinton, packs a punch with her powerful short novel “Rumble Fish.” Known for her young adult coming-of-age stories, Hinton’s story, “The Outsiders”, has sold more than ten million copies. Her lesser known story, “Rumble Fish”, is a quick, easy read that leaves readers wanting more.

The main character of the story, Rusty-James, is a 14 year old boy who knows nothing of the world besides delinquency and loneliness. He idolizes his older brother, “The Motorcycle Boy,” who is somewhat of a prodigy in their small, 1960’s town.

His older brother has isolated himself and many people struggle to understand him, yet they still admire his perplexing persona. The Motorcycle Boy satisfies his life by drifting from state to state (on stolen motorcycles; hence the name), never really finding anything that entertains him for very long.

Rusty-James obsesses over becoming just like his brother, although he relies too heavily on physical violence. This story provides a look at the mind of a disobedient, angsty teen that loses hope in the world at a very young age.

Throughout the book, readers are exposed to the trials a young kid such as Rusty-James faces and how they are impacted by such experiences. A number of controversial subjects  come to play in this story, including drugs, alcohol abuse, and gang violence.

The novel begins with what would appear as a lack of direction, simply telling about Rusty-James’ everyday life. However, it quickly picks up the pace at the end and takes a major turn. And with the book being so short, it is still very much entertaining to read through the beginning.

Told through the first-person perspective of Rusty-James’  the language is simplistic and raw.

I believe the reason this story was so interesting was that it was able to evoke great emotion through such little content. S. E. Hinton does an amazing job, once again, portraying the coming-of-age of an American teen.