"Sometimes, I feel like I spent the first part of my life wishing to be a teen-age boy, and the second part condemned to being one"

This quote by S. E. Hinton talks to the idea of the double-edged sword of growing up. As a kid, we often admire the older kids and wish to be like them, to have the flexibility and self-reliance that includes being a teen. However when we lastly reach that age, we realize that it's not all it's split up to be. We are anticipated to take on more responsibility, make more difficult choices, and face the effects of our actions. We can no longer rely on our moms and dads to make choices for us, and we need to learn to browse the world on our own. This quote talks to the bittersweetness of maturing and the awareness that the life we wanted as a kid is not always what we anticipated.