That was A Separate Peace, this is That Was Then, This Is Now

AUTHORS WITH THREE NAMES WRITING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF TEENAGE BOYS, PART TWO

A Separate Peace 2: Life of the Street

PARALLELS

Just about everyone on the planet has read or heard of The Outsiders, the novel by wunderkind S.E. Hinton that became the standard for raw, roughneck YA literature. She so deftly captures life of the forgotten underclass that manifests in gang culture and rebellion against societal norms that when I first read the book, I thought that SE Hinton was some kind of reformed criminal. Imagine my surprise ("a teenage girl! I must write her a love letter") and depression ("a teenage girl! I'm a teenage boy and all I do is set things on fire. I'm a failure") when I found out that Hinton was a high school student at the time she wrote The Outsiders. It's my favorite mind-blower for the middle school boys who read this book for the first time with me.

Student: Hey, I just finished this book.

Me: What did you think?

Student: It was good. I identified with Pony Boy. I feel like him sometimes.

Me: Hey, that's great. I mean, sort of. We'll talk about that later with your probation officer. But did you know that S.E. Hinton is a girl? DID I JUST BLOW YOU MIND?!?!?!

Student: No. 

Me: Oh. 

That Was Then, This Is Now is the tangential followup to that well-known novel, and while it treads much the same ground of its predecessor (and features some characters from it), the more adult approach to That Was Then, regarding how relationships change over time and experience show that Hinton took a step forward as a write in the four years after her debut. I'm more inclined to compare this novel to A Separate Peace than I am to The Outsiders. Sounds unlikely, I know. Allow me to address your (fictional) italicized concerns.

But JB, there aren't any prep school Greasers in A Separate Peace!  

True. However, let's look beyond socioeconomic status and consider the parallels of the relationships between Gene/Finny and Bryon/Mark.

But JB, Gene becomes a psycho while Bryon becomes a good person. How do you explain that, smart guy?

No need for sarcastic name-calling. You're examining their differing behaviors, without accounting for the major shift in morality that takes place. It's the most common sight in a YA novel, or any novel for that matter: someone grows/changes and it affects their relationships. Gene and Bryon both begin to see their friendships fade, one via manufactured competition, the other via, I don't know, growing up. Gene shifts morally to a dark place, as Bryon emerges from ambiguity to a strong sense of right and wrong. What transpires after these transformations is extremely similar: Gene and Bryon irreparably do in their former friends. Finny dies from the sabotaged tree limb jump (this isn't a spoiler; you should have read this book by now) and after Bryon turns him in for dealing drugs, Mark descends into a hardened, eternal hatred for Bryon. Afterwards, Gene and Bryon are forever changed.

So, you're mistaking a convention of novel-writing for a striking similarity?
Not at all.

I don't believe you.
Yeah, well, I don't feel like arguing the matter anymore.

"I FEEL MIXED UP INSIDE"

Bryon says this about 68,000 times in this book, and I'm beginning to see the limitations of Hinton books. The characters stay in this constant flux, which is a realistic bent, but the insight isn't there. That's not necessarily the point of the Hinton books, and the focus on the anger and dissonance pays off. However, Hinton nearly beats this angle into oblivion, but does enough with the M&M B-story to keep it from monotony. And where does Bryon find relief? READING BOOKS. I'm shocked.

This book can serve a language arts teacher well, given Hinton's good work with foreshadowing, dialogue, and irony. 

The end of chapter 2 features fabulous foreshadowing. At that very moment every teacher should stop and ask their readers, "what do you think is going to happen?" and solicit predictions. Great stuff.

The irony of the last sentence of the novel: "I wish I was a kid again, when I had all the answers." Oh, man. Have students evaluate that statement in the context of Bryon's transformation and relate their own personal experiences in growing up. I've never offered this book to my classes, but I just may. Besides, we can then watch the movie: 

Any movie in which Emilio Estevez is ostracized & beaten senseless is good by me.

FINAL VERDICT

This book holds up on its own when compared to The Outsiders. Hinton is almost a required read for YA of all stripes, and that the book is regularly challenged in schools heightens its appeal. Make it so, number one.

BONUS!

Looks like more than a few dozen students were assigned to create a trailer for this book, and the results are on Youtube. Take a peek at a few of them and laugh your whatever off. 

NEXT TIME, I YELL ABOUT

Part three of my YA challenge. This one is set against the Vietnam War (again?!) and the entire town of Antler, Texas is thrown for a loop when the world's heaviest boy comes to town. Let's just say I'm setting a personal record for reading books with the word BEAVER in the title!

BORING STUFF

That was Then, This is Now

S.E. Hinton

1971 Viking/Penguin