The Outsiders Book Quiz
Eight multiple-choice questions on S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders (1967) — plot, characters and the moments everyone quotes. Two minutes, instant score, every answer explained below. For the full mixed-classics version, take the original book quiz — 15 questions across the whole canon.
All 8 questions and answers
Prefer to read the quiz instead of taking it? Expand for every question, answer and a one-line explanation.
- Who narrates the novel? — Ponyboy Curtis. Ponyboy, fourteen, tells it all in an English theme paper he starts writing for class.
- What are the two gangs in the book? — Greasers and Socs. Greasers from the poor east side; Socs (pronounced 'soashes') from the west.
- What are Ponyboy's two things on his mind as the book opens? — Paul Newman and a ride home. The famous first line: he steps out of the movie house thinking of Paul Newman and a ride home.
- Who tells Ponyboy 'Things are rough all over'? — Cherry Valance. Cherry, the Soc girl, says it after the drive-in — the book's thesis in four words.
- What happens in the park that forces Johnny and Ponyboy to flee? — Johnny kills a Soc who is drowning Ponyboy. Bob's drowning hold on Ponyboy; Johnny's switchblade; the death that changes everything.
- What do the boys do at the abandoned church in Windrixville? — Hide out for days, reading Gone with the Wind. A week of baloney, peroxide hair and Gone with the Wind — until the fire.
- How does Johnny die? — From injuries after saving children from the burning church. The broken back from the falling timber; he dies quoting 'Stay gold.'
- What are Johnny's last words to Ponyboy? — Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.... Robert Frost's 'Nothing Gold Can Stay,' turned into a dying charge.
About The Outsiders
Ponyboy Curtis and his greaser friends carry a running war with the Socs, the rich kids across town — until one night a fight goes too far and Ponyboy and Johnny run. The novel every American middle-schooler meets, and the one that stays. The novel runs about 48,000 words (roughly 180 pages in a standard paperback) — about 3 hours and 22 minutes of reading at an average pace. Before you commit, see the full breakdown in how long it takes to read The Outsiders or calculate reading time for any other book.
Easy — short sentences, young-adult pace; the emotional weight sits under plain words. If you get 6 or more of the eight questions right, the book clearly stuck.
What this quiz covers
S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders sits in our american classics shelf, and the eight questions follow the book the way a reader experiences it: how the story opens, the turn in the middle, the characters who carry it, and the ending people still argue about. You will not be asked for page numbers or publication trivia — but three or four questions are built to separate people who read the book from people who read a summary. If a question stumps you, that gap is your reading list talking.
Fair warning for the ambitious: readers who clear this quiz often move straight to the reading-time breakdown for The Outsiders to plan the reread, then test the rest of their shelf against the mixed classic literature quiz.
More book quizzes
To Kill a Mockingbird quiz, The Great Gatsby quiz, The Scarlet Letter quiz, Of Mice and Men quiz, 1984 quiz, Animal Farm quiz, Brave New World quiz — or browse every book quiz on the site. For scale, The Outsiders is the 103rd longest of the 133 classics timed here — shorter than A Wrinkle in Time but longer than The Great Gatsby.
Doing the whole author? Our S. E. Hinton books in order guide lists every book with the best entry point.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in the Outsiders quiz?
Eight multiple-choice questions covering S. E. Hinton's plot, characters and most famous moments. The quiz takes about two minutes and your score is instant.
Is the Outsiders book quiz free?
Yes — no signup, no email, nothing to install. Answer the eight questions and get your score immediately.
What score should I aim for?
8/8 means you know the book cold; 6+ is a solid score. Below 4, the book is calling you back for a reread.
Is the Outsiders quiz hard?
Easy — short sentences, young-adult pace; the emotional weight sits under plain words. The questions themselves stick to famous, load-bearing moments — the scenes and lines the book is remembered for — so a genuine read usually scores 6+.
How long is the Outsiders reading itself?
About 48,000 words — roughly 180 pages, or about 3 hours and 22 minutes at an average pace. The full pace breakdown is in how long it takes to read The Outsiders. It runs 12 chapters, averaging 4,000 words each; see the book-count guide for its full structure.