That Was Then, This Is Now

By: S. E. Hinton

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

"It had been a real weird winter. Last fall, Mark and me had thought just alike, as one person; now we couldn't even talk."

Bryon and Mark aren't related, but they are as close as brothers. Ever since his parents died when he was nine, Mark has lived with Bryon and his mother. Now at 16, they like to reminisce about old times - the fights and pranks at school, smoking and swearing - junk they got into when they were younger. But lately things have been different. Bryon starts spending a lot of time with Cathy, and she makes him feel there are some things worth working for. He grows bored with all the fighting, the dead-end choices of life on the streets. And as Bryon's life takes one direction, Mark's life takes another. When Bryon discovers that Mark is pushing drugs, he faces a choice that could ruin their friendship.

S. E. Hinton is the author of The Outsiders, a book she wrote when she was 16. That Was Then, This Is Now is a coming-of-age story set in the 1960s.

©1971 S.E. Hinton (P)1994 Recorded Books

The ending

Very good but I really didn’t like the ending. The narrators voice didn’t give a lot of emotions at time but the difference in character voices was good. I didn’t have trouble with the audio as far as I can tell (maybe I wasn’t paying attention). But overall pretty good book.

The story

The story made me relate to the main character most of the time after the half point of the book

Not as great as I remember.

This was one of my favorite books as a kid. I read it over and over. But as an adult I had a hard time swallowing the whole "acid will make you lose your mind forever" bit. I mean, if I didn't know better I would think it was a scared straight novel commissioned by Nancy Reagan. However, to be fair, I think that was probably the way people thought of it back in the beginning, so in the context of the time, it might be accurate.

Great read

as good as expected from her. loved the outsiders as well. will reccomend this to family

it was really good <br />

loved it
i love this book so much . the reader was good also .