In many ways, That Was Then, This Is Now is a sequel to The Outsiders. It sets in the 1960s in a bad part of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Because Mark’s parents killed each other in a drunken fight seven years before, Mark Jennings, fifteen, has been living with Bryon Douglas and his mother. While at the hospital visiting his mom, Bryon also meets Cathy, M&M’s older sister who has just returned from private school. Not too long after, violence erupts again. It happens while Bryon is on his first date with Cathy. His ex-girlfriend Angela asked a boy to beat up Ponyboy Curtis and when Mark tries to stop the fight, he gets hit. Mark gets jealous because Bryon dated Cathy for a while and Mark started getting in trouble and sent to juvenile
