The White Horse

by Cynthia D. Grant

Book Overview

Heroin addiction has been a constant presence in sixteen-year-old Raina's life. But what Raina refers to as a pet, or white horse, has turned her life, first with her abusive addict mother, and later... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068983263X
• ISBN13: 9780689832635
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Simon Pulse
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 2.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 7.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

The White Horse Was The Best Book I EVER Read

The White Hosre, a story about a 16 year old junkie Raina, is not only a book you can't put down but a joy to finish. This story is so explicit yet sweet it's almost unreal. I love this book and reccomend it for everyone of you because it shows you another way of living. It tells you what some people's lives are like but most of all, it let's you know that people don't always take what is offered until you push them even if they do need it. Please read this book, it is a pleasure.

White Horse Thoughts

I think the book was wonderful. I loved it. When I first read the book I thought it was wonderful. Now when I go to the library I check it out. I love it. It's a beautiful book that's maybe telling a teenager's life right now and I love it and you should too!!!!

Pain and Pleasure, Tears and Triumph all in one book

Raina is haunted by memories of her mothers drug addiction which is still going strong and her younger brothers death. She writes them down and shares them with her teacher: Miss Johnson. Miss Johnson is always supportive of Raina's writing and enjoys reading her tales despite there sad truth. Raina rejects all of Miss Johnsons attempts to be her friend because she can't be vulnerable. Being vulnerable is a sure-fire way to get yourself hurt. Well, Raina's already addicted to Heroine and drinks to much too often. When Raina finds out she's pregnant after her junkie boyfriend's death she has no idea where to turn. Her teacher urges her to give up the baby for adoption because Raina is still a child herself. Raina's abusive mother demands that Raina keep the child, not only that, but come home immediately. Raina does so hoping things have changed. They of course haven't. Raina is kicked out after exploding with years of bottled anger that have finally surfaced. Raina finds the true answer to where her child belongs after much thinking. She also finds the answer to where she belongs. The ending is unexpected and heart warming. (I may be fourteen, but I know a good book when I read it, and this is it.)

Offers hope to teens in supposedly no-win situations.

Raina is a teen-age girl living in a world that seemingly offers little or no options, no sense of purpose, and (supposedly) no one to trust - either adults or the teens that are her peers. Hers is a world of abuse, abandonment, futility; meaningless days filled with drugs, sex, crime, and interactions with a non-caring, hyper-abusive family. All her efforts are focused on simply surviving. Even if that means prostituting herself at the behest of her junkie boyfriend, in order to support his growing habit. The boyfriend is killed and Raina is left on her own, pregnant, with literally nowhere to turn. But Raina has a secret that only one person - her special education teacher, Miss Johnson - is aware of. Something that helps her to survive under the most extreme conditions. Raina possesses the ability and talent to express and explore her feelings through writing. In her writing, she is able to communicate things that she is unable to verbalize...things that the majority of her friends and family would ridicule. However, she is not able to directly talk with Miss Johnson about her efforts. So, she takes to leaving pieces of her poetry, prose, notes, whatever...on Miss Johnson's desk. What Miss Johnson finds within the crumpled pages or torn fragments of paper...shocks and depresses her. She tries and tries to reach out to Raina, but to no avail. Raina wants her help, but is so conditioned to failure and rejection, she is afraid to communicate her true feelings to her teacher. Eventually, Raina is forced by circumstances (she finds herself and her baby out on the streets with no place to go...her mother having kicked her out and the available social service agencies having temporarily lost her in the shuffle of agonizing procedures on top of procedures on top of...etc.)to turn to the only person who has ever shown any real interest in her as a person. Miss Johnson. Ultimately she makes the decision to risk communicating with her teacher. What follows is a glimpse of what might happen when an adult is willing to take a major risk by reaching out to a seemingly lost soul...which results in this case with the characters learning a lot about each other as well as about themselves. This book is a grim slice of real-time life for too many of today's teenagers. Ms. Grant has definitely done her homework...this work rings true in every respect...be it accurately describing the attitudes and lifestyles of the younger characters or giving us crystal-clear glimpses of the lives (or non-lives) of the dysfunctional adults who brought these children into their own out-of-control world. This is razor sharp writing by a master of teen fiction who refuses to pull any punches. Hopefully, the audience who this book is targeting will obtain a glimmer of hope from Raina's story...and not give up on themselves. And hopefully...some of them will find a caring adult like Miss Johnson who will come forward at great