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Rumble Fish | Introduction

S. E. Hinton's third novel, Rumble Fish (1975), is similar to her first two novels, The Outsiders and That Was Then, This Is Now, in that it stars a troubled teenager from a precarious background and is told from a young man's point of view. However, it's different from the two previous books because they both featured teenagers who were more intelligent and sensitive than their peers and who were wiser by the end of the book. In contrast, in Rumble Fish Rusty-James is a victim of circumstance in a story that does not provide much hope for his future.

Like Hinton's other books, this novel helped to shape the young adult genre, moving it toward realism and away from the wholesome, overly nice story lines that had prevailed before Hinton began writing her gritty tales. Hinton's style has been widely imitated by other writers since her debut in 1967.

The book was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults in 1975, was listed as one of the Best Books of the Year by School Library Journal in 1975, and won a Land of Enchantment Book Award from the New Mexico Library Association in 1982. In 1988, Hinton was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her body of work.

Rumble Fish Summary

Chapter One
The novel opens five or six years after the main action, as Rusty-James runs into his old friend Steve, whom he hasn't seen in all that time. They are on the beach, far from the original action. Rusty-James has been "bumming around," not working since getting out of the reformatory after serving five years, and Steve is on vacation from college, where he's studying to become a high school teacher. Steve invites Rusty-James to dinner, an invitation he has no intention of accepting. Steve is too much of a reminder of some bad times.

Chapter Two
This chapter begins six years earlier, when the boys were around thirteen and fourteen. Rusty-James is in Benny's, a local hangout, when a kid named Midget informs him that Biff Wilcox is out to kill him because of something Rusty-James said to Biff’s girlfriend. Rusty-James arranges to meet Biff in the vacant lot behind a pet store, and both plan to bring friends. Although gang wars are supposedly a thing of the past—a ban enforced by Rusty-James's older brother, the Motorcycle Boy— the Motorcycle Boy has disappeared and Rusty-James says he's going to fight if he has to and he's not going to get caught without any backup.

Chapter Three
Rusty-James goes to see his girlfriend, Patty. She's mad at him because she heard that he went up to the lake with Smokey and his cousin and some girls, but he tells her nothing happened, and they settle down to make out. She's nervous about his upcoming fight with Biff Wilcox and reminds him that he promised to quit fighting. However, she can't say much because she once went after another girl with a broken bottle because the girl was flirting with Rusty-James.

He leaves her and goes back to Benny's, where a lot of kids are waiting for him. Steve is not there. He goes to the empty lot with Smokey and another friend, B. J. Biff and five other guys are there, and Biff is high on something, making him look and act crazy. Biff also has a knife, and Rusty-James is armed only with a bike chain. They fight, and Rusty-James wins. In the middle of the fight, the Motorcycle Boy shows up, saying, "I thought we'd stopped this cowboys and Indians crap." Rusty-James is distracted by this, and Biff grabs the knife off the ground and slices Rusty-James down his side. Steve shows up and tells Rusty-James he should go to the hospital, but Rusty-James refuses.

The Motorcycle Boy says he's been in California but says little about the trip. They go home, and Motorcycle Boy pours wine over the knife cut to sterilize it.

Chapter Four
The next day, Rusty-James goes to school despite his wound. He misses math, plays poker during lunch, and stands out of gym, where the coach offers him five dollars to beat up another kid who's been giving the coach trouble. After school, Rusty-James goes to Benny's, where all the kids are impressed with his knife cut. Steve comes in and says his mother is sick in the hospital. Rusty-James leaves and steals some hubcaps, and when the owner and some friends chase him, he jumps from one roof to the next, urging Steve to do the same. Steve does, almost falling two stories down, and it... » Complete Rumble Fish Summary