Question

read the passage.
new teen literature
s. e. hintons novel the outsiders, published in 1967, differed radically from earlier teen novels. most novels for teens projected a clean - cut, problem - free version of youth, with romantic love and sports as common topics. in contrast, the outsiders dived into a much grittier reality, exploring complex and often disturbing issues, such as isolation, violence, and economic inequality. the outsiders was itself authored by a teenager: hinton was seventeen at publication. her frustration with the existing literature was her impetus for writing the book. “there was only a handful of books having teenage protagonists: mary jane wants to go to the prom with the football hero and ends up with the boy next door and has a good time anyway,” she told the new yorker magazine in 2014. “i couldnt see anything going on in those books that had anything to do with real life.”
what is the main, or central, idea of the passage?
in contrast to most previous novels written for teenagers, hintons the outsiders deliberately dealt with difficult issues.
hinton was a teenager herself when her young adult novel, the outsiders, was first published.
the teen novels that were popular in the 1960s often concerned lighthearted stories about high school.

Explanation:

The passage contrasts most earlier teen novels with Hinton's The Outsiders. It emphasizes that while previous ones had clean - cut and problem - free themes, The Outsiders delved into difficult issues.

Answer:

In contrast to most previous novels written for teenagers, Hinton’s The Outsiders deliberately dealt with difficult issues.