If Wishes Were Horses: A Novel [Hardcover]

Merry Whiteford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2003

If Wishes Were Horses is a moving coming-of-age novel that explores the depth of friendship, the hope for redemption, and the heartbreaking choices one must make in a difficult, brutal world.

It's 1974, and 16-year-old Star Hennessey is living with three other foster children in a broken-down central New York town. The daughter of an alcoholic prostitute, Star has so far escaped the gritty, painful circumstances of her life through the poems and stories she writes and recites in her head.

When she discovers she is pregnant, Star's search for the right course of action brings her face-to-face with the cruel exploitation she fears is her legacy-but culminates in her personal and spiritual triumph.

If Wishes Were Horses is a stunning story expertly told by Merry Whiteford, a graceful writer who delves into Star's harsh reality with compassion, hope, and beauty.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Whiteford weaves a tale of self-discovery in this affecting story of a young girl growing up in upstate New York during the 1970s. Star Hennessy's mother, Mildred, is an alcoholic prostitute who has long since lost her hold on reality, relinquishing Star and her brother, Lucky, to a strict foster home that they share with two other emotionally scarred orphan boys, Pig and Skeeter. Star is a typical teenager in many respects, but she and her three companions are street smart and world weary, facing the harsh realities of their dubious social status with a bravado incongruous with their adolescence and a touching loyalty to each other. At 16, Star finds solace in poetry, but despite her intelligence and her sophistication about her mother's profession, she becomes pregnant by Pig. This cataclysm leads her to new insights about her background, as well as a pivotal decision about the direction of her life. Star's narrative voice is strong, but her patience with and sympathy for her feckless mother strain credulity, and many of the events in this sentimentalized portrait of a sensitive girl battling for a decent life are improbable. Star's redemption and fledgling career as a poet could be inspiring to teenagers, however, and this uplifting novel could find a home on the YA shelf.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A strong, fresh, and vivid account of adolescence that doesn't sink into morbid sentimentality or hip despair."-Kirkus Reviews (December 1, 2002)
Star's redemption and fledgling career as a poet could be inspiring to teenagers..." Publisher's Weekly (February 17, 2003)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (March 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031230188X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312301880
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,646,152 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heartbreakingly Wonderful Read, March 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: If Wishes Were Horses: A Novel (Hardcover)

If Wishes Were Horses is an absolutely beautiful story of difficult, sometimes tragic, relationships -- and the grace that can come from them. The central character copes with unspeakable loss, yet her toughness and street smarts are not what allows her to triumph in the end, as is so often the case in a coming of age novel; instead, the author deftly and magically creates a young woman whose sensitivity, intelligence, and generosity of spirit win us over. Merry Whiteford does not stick to cliches and worn notions about good parenting and healthy human development--she is willing to explore the gray areas of relationships that make life rich, complex, and real. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the lessons within it.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars heartbreaking and funny, February 23, 2003

By 

gillian bennett (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If Wishes Were Horses: A Novel (Hardcover)

I am on a high that is a blend of many deep emotions having just finished Merry Whiteford's third book, IF WISHES WERE HORSES.
I.W.W.H. is a smasher: difficult to put down for a start and plain impossible for the last two thirds. Terrific foundations are laid and then built on until a new structure, solid, original, and satisfying. The more specific Mildred and Star and Pig become the more their essences twang and resonate with my own. They are wonderful creations. Mildred is supreme, one of the finest pieces of sculpture created by pen that I have come across.
I was charmed by the sure yet so delicate artistry in the crescendoing creation of Mildred until I no longer wished her to walk into the room; she arrived here, vividly present. Star's coming to see Mildred as exactly who she is, - and who Mildred is, is plenty, and indeed enough - saves Star and allows her to grow up. By transcending Mildred's self deceptions Star becomes herself and being now separate from Mildred it is easy to love her.
Thank you, Ms Whiteford. NEXT PLEASE!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Wishes Were Horses, March 10, 2003

By 

Robert Monheim (Norfolk, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If Wishes Were Horses: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is a very good read. I am looking forward to the
next chapter in Star's life. Highly recommended!