S. E. Hinton is a fiction writer. Her given name is Susan Eloise Hinton. She was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1950. Hinton attended the University of Tulsa. While still in high school, Hinton wrote The Outsiders. The book changed publishing for young people, portraying a grittier, more realistic view of the lives of teenagers. Hinton has won numerous awards, including the Margaret Alexander Edwards Award, the Media and Methods Maxi Award, and the Land of the Enchantment Award. Her work has consistently been honored on the American Library Association's Best Young Adult Book lists and she has been nominated for the American Book Award. Four of her books have been made into films starring such… actors as Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Nicholas Cage, Rob Lowe, and Emilio Estevez. Francis Ford Coppola directed two of the films.