The Boy on a Black Horse
 First edition, 1994 | |
| Author | Nancy Springer |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Atheneum Books |
Publication date | 1 March 1994 |
| Media type | Hardcover and Paperback |
| Pages | 176 p. (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 978-0689318405 |
| OCLC | 26764512 |
The Boy on a Black Horse is a young adult novel written by Nancy Springer. It was first published in 1994.
Plot summary
Horse-crazy Grace "Gray" Calderone is 13 and still reeling from a tragedy that took away her family. She is drawn to Chav, a strange new boy at school, when he says a poem about a horse. She tells her aunt, Liana, who she lives with, about the new boy.
She sees him riding a beautiful black stallion, follows its trail, and learns that he is living on his own with his younger brother and sister. When the children become ill, Gray and Liana take them in, but Chav is afraid to open up to them. He has run away from his rich white father whose abuse killed his mother, and he tells romantic, idealized stories of returning to the gypsy life his mother once led. He trusts no one, but Gray and her aunt are weakening his defenses.
His anger and confusion mount until he decides to kill the boys from school who have teased him and then commit suicide. Gray intercepts him and tells him that he is her brother and that his killing himself would tear her apart every time she thought of him.
The story ends with Chav acting the role of a brother when Gray confides in him about her fears and the survivor's guilt of living when her family is dead. Feeling better about everything, they gallop off on their horses.