In the following excerpt, Scott describes Hinton's association with actor Matt Dillon, who portrayed Dallas in the film version of The Outsiders, the title character in the film based on Tex, and Rusty-James in the movie based on Rumble Fish. Scott goes on to briefly describe Hinton's novels and incorporates Hinton's and Dillon's comments on them as well.

In the following excerpt, Powell faults Rumble Fish for lacking a protagonist who, like those of The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now, possesses superior wit and insight that enable him to rise above the violence and turmoil of his surroundings. Rumble Fish's Rusty-James, Powell argues, is victimized by his environment, and his victimization creates a pervasive air of failure and despair which diminishes the novel.

Rumble Fish belongs, essentially, to one of the established forms of children's books, the animal story, in which the child is given the opportunity of living in the skin of the grizzly bear or the wild horse. The experiences of the animal are felt by the child, though in a different way from that in which the animal feels them. So in Rumble Fish the boy's emulation of his older brother, his alienation from his father, his rejection of school and authority—the things many children feel&...

[In "Rumble Fish"] Rusty-James longs to live up to the reputation of his older brother, referred to only as the Motorcycle Boy. Rusty-James is on a macho trip at his junior high school, where he wants to be the toughest cat around since his brother was expelled. Rusty's father drinks, his mother has disappeared, his best friend is decent enough but too weak to exert any influence. When the Motorcycle Boy comes back to town, Rusty follows his idol one step too far. The fall is shattering...

The dialogue and [Rusty-James's] monologue [in Rumble Fish] are vibrant and authentic, and the narrative moves quickly and dramatically from one event to another. But essentially the material of the book remains undeveloped, and the commentary glib and superficial…. By her third book, the outcome for S. E. Hinton appears to be unpromising; her writing has the same style and the same perception as it had when she was seventeen. Instead of becoming a vehicle for growth and development, the book,...

[In Rumblefish, Hinton's] portrayal of men and women is decidedly sexist. The machismo creed is heavily reinforced by Rusty James' refusal to cry, his need to keep up a tough-hood front, his faith that his strong hands are more valuable than a good mind. Girlfriend Patty is jealous and manipulative, turning her tears on and off at will. Girls are classified as "good," cheapies to mess around with, pretty possessions, housewives or runaway mothers. Behind a colorful and action-pac...

As gut-wrenching as the "sneaky pete" her hero guzzles down, S. E. Hinton's latest novel [Rumble Fish] won't sit well with book selectors who demand that children's fiction end hopefully, if not happily. No hard-nosed punk, young Rusty-James rapidly loses everything meaningful to him—his girl, his "rep" as number one tough guy, and, most important, his idolized older brother…. Stylistically superb (the purposely flat, colorless narrative exactly...