#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed! Here’s the Answer to Today’s Quiz.

/ Marcia Meara

For two weeks in a row, our list of winners for our #FirstLineFriday quiz is very short. Like, none. 😦 I’m really sorry no one guessed this one. I hate it when I can’t give away any books. But there’s always next time, and besides, you did get to take a look at a pretty darn intriguing first line. Hopefully, this quiz has you thinking about how to start your next book.

Since I’ve not read this one myself, though I’ve always meant to, I don’t have any pithy comments about the book, but I do have some interesting info to share below. But first, the answer you’ve been wracking your brains over.

“When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home.” is the opening line of 1967’s The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.

Buy The Outsiders HERE

Interesting (and INSPIRING) Tidbits for you:

Hinton was 15 when she started writing the novel but did most of the work when she was 16 and a junior in high school. She was just 18 when the book was published. The 1983 movie starred a veritable cornucopia of young (at the time) Hollywood talent:

C. Thomas Howell
Matt Dillon
Ralph Macchio
Patrick Swayze
Rob Lowe
Diane Lane
Emilio Estevez
Tom Cruise
Leif Garrett

BLURB:

50 years of an iconic classic! This international bestseller and inspiration for a beloved movie is a heroic story of friendship and belonging.

No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he’s got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.

The Outsiders is a dramatic and enduring work of fiction that laid the groundwork for the YA genre. S. E. Hinton’s classic story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today as it was the day it was first published.

“The Outsiders transformed young-adult fiction from a genre mostly about prom queens, football players and high school crushes to one that portrayed a darker, truer world.” —The New York Times

“Taut with tension, filled with drama.” —The Chicago Tribune

“[A] classic coming-of-age book.” —Philadelphia Daily News

A New York Herald Tribune Best Teenage Book
A Chicago Tribune Book World Spring Book Festival Honor Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Winner of the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award

I have a suspicion that while you may or may not have read the book, many of you have probably seen this movie. It is still being shown on various film channels to this day.

So there you have it for this week. And a HEADS UP: I am planning to devote next week to finishing my current WIP, so I won’t be running my usual weekly features, but it will all return the following week. So, no #FirstLineFriday on October 4, but if the bridge don’t go, an’ the creek don’t rise, as they say down here, it will be back on October 11 with a new teaser for you. See you then! 

22 thoughts on “#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed! Here’s the Answer to Today’s Quiz.”

    • With a cast like that, and a powerful subject, it must have made a great movie. I don’t watch a lot of film these days, especially now that I don’t hear well (and closed-captioning STINKS!), but do read all the time, so I’m going to start with the book. I’ve already put it on my TBR pile. (Now to live to be 135, so I’ll have time to get to it!) 😀

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  4. The Outsiders, huh? Haven’t read it or seen the movie, but have always heard good things about it. I will have to check it out. And she wrote it that young, huh? I wrote my first “book” about that age, when I was in high school.

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    • I was writing a ton of poetry at that age, but hadn’t even considered writing a novel. And to write one at 16, and have it published by 18, and then have it become a best seller and an acclaimed film, well, it kind of boggles my mind. I’m definitely reading it soon. Don’t know about the movie, as they usually pale in comparison to a good book, but I WILL read this! Can’t believe I haven’t already done so! *tsk*

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    • Aw, I extended the deadline an hour and a half hoping you’d make it in time! Wish you had! But I’m glad you approve of this selection. It’s a great first line, and I’m finally getting serious about reading it. 🙂 ❤

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        • I’m really glad to hear that, Bette. Half of the fun (for me, anyway) is studying some of these wonderful openers, and pondering how I can come up with great first lines, myself. Glad you’re enjoying the quiz. And my weekend got off to a super start with my final local event of the year, an Autumn Tea at Enterprise Museum, which turned out great. Lovely folks in the audience, great staff members making sure we had fabulous food to eat, and lots of laughs all around! Now to get busy with the last 2 chapters of my WIP and get it “out there” as soon as possible.

          Have a great rest of the weekend, yourself! 🙂

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