The Black Stallion And The Girl (original 1971; edition 1977)

9/2012 Farley's love song to his vanished daughter is so poignant, so breathtakingly sad underneath, that it's maybe the most meaningful of all the series. Farley pokes at what (one assumes) were some of the arguments he and his daughter had, and attempts to resolve them in her favor. I want, now, to read an in-depth biography of Farley and see how closely my speculations match up to reality. I love the proto-hippie, beginning feminist tone of this book, and the clunky Alec falling in love. It's a keeper.

1/2009 I haven't read this for ages. It was always one of my favorites of the Black Stallion series when I was a girl. Now that I'm someone's mom, and now that I know that Farley wrote this in memory of his own daughter, I find it almost unbearably poignant. Pam is so idealized as to be a goddess, but she fits right in with the perfect horses. The heavy-handed feminism Farley exhibits here feels both real and compensatory. The horse parts are as exciting as ever, but there's a serious underlay to this one that lingers. ( )

Not my favorite of the series. I was always angry that Alec let some stupid girl ride his Black Stallion!! I just didn't like the character of the girl -- most of the later books in the series were not that good. Still, I read them all as a kid because any book with a horse in it (especially the Black Stallion!) is worth reading. ( )