That Was Then, This is Now

Contributed by Kate, grade 12 -- April 2018

 This novel was short and concise, but powerful nonetheless. That Was Then, This is Now explores, with believable honesty, themes that are relevant to youth in any decade.

In my opinion, S.E. Hinton achieves higher eloquence in this novel than she did in her first (more famed) published work, The Outsiders. The main character, Bryon, is well-developed and realistic, and contributes the most to the novel’s success.

At times, S.E. Hinton does continually state and restate some points about Bryon’s character unnecessarily, I feel. Nonetheless, Hinton manages to fit a diverse cast of characters and a riveting plot into an insignificant paperback of 159 pages, all the while evoking a wide range of emotions in her readers. That Was Then, This is Now demonstrates that a book does not have to be lengthy to be considered “good”.