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The Black Stallion #19
The Black Stallion and the Girl
Hopeful Farm’s success has greatly increased Alec and Henry’s workload, and finally, Alec decides to seek help. When Pam Athena, a very diminutive and very pretty girl applies for the job, Alec can’t imagine that she could be of any use. But then he sees how well she works with the horses. Even the Black, usually untrusting of strangers, is surprisingly calm around her . . . and it isn’t long before Alec himself falls under her spell.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
34 people are currently reading
1046 people want to read
About the author
Walter Farley
168 books1,035 followersWalter Farley's love for horses began when he was a small boy living in Syracuse, New York, and continued as he grew up in New York City, where his family moved. Young Walter never owned a horse. But unlike most city children, he had little trouble gaining firsthand experience with horses-his uncle was a professional horseman, and Walter spent much of his time at the stables with him.
"He wasn't the most successful trainer of race horses," Mr. Farley recalled, "and in a way I profited by it. He switched from runners to jumpers to show horses to trotters and pacers, then back to runners again. Consequently, I received a good background in different kinds of horse training and the people associated with each."
Walter Farley began to write his first book, THE BLACK STALLION, while he was a student at Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School and Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, and
finished it while he was an undergraduate at Columbia University. It was published by Random House when he was 26. He used his first advance to go traveling and after that hardly stopped longer than it took him to write another book. He traveled and lived in Mexico, Hawaii, the South Seas, most of the South American countries, the Caribbean Islands, and Europe.
The appearance of THE BLACK STALLION in 1941 was hailed by enthusiastic boys and girls all over the country. An avalanche of mail urged Mr. Farley to write more about Alec Ramsey and the Black. But World War II intervened. Mr. Farley went into the US Army, where he spent the next five years. Most of the time he was assigned to Yank, the army weekly magazine, and he was also trained in the Fourth Armored Division.
After the war Walter Farley resumed the adventures of Alec and the Black with THE BLACK STALLION RETURNS. This was followed by SON OF THE BLACK STALLION. Then Mr. Farley tried his hand at a story about a new boy, Steve Duncan, and a new horse, Flame, in THE ISLAND STALLION. Mr. Farley's readers were just as delighted with this book as his others.
Mr. Farley went on to write many more stories about the two stallions, and about other horses as well. Children of all ages have found Farley titles to enjoy, since many of the later stories were written for Mr. Farley's own children when they were too young to read his Stallion novels. And older readers and adults have been gripped by his fictionalized biography of America's greatest Thoroughbred, Man O'War. Walter Farley's titles reached a grand total of 34. The 21 Black Stallion and Island Stallion stories are still in print and selling steadily. His readers respond with passion, writing him thousands of letters and emails every year. In May 1949, the first Black Stallion Club was founded, in Kentucky. Mr. Farley designed a membership button for it; the button was in constant demand among his readers for years. The Black Stallion books were so popular in the late 1940s and '50s that they York Times annual list of best-selling children's books. Three nationwide Black Stallion contests were held. Walter Farley's books have been published abroad in more than 20 countries, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Israel, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaya, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as in the United States and Canada.
All his life Walter Farley remained a keen spectator of the racing scene, and he enjoyed nothing more than hobnobbing with horse trainers and other professional horsemen. It is thanks to these people that his books are so full of authentic details of raising and training horses. When not busy working or traveling, Mr. Farley liked to ride dressage and high school Lippizaner horses. He also sailed and sometimes raced his 35-foot auxiliary sloop "Circe."
Mr. Farley and his wife Rosemary, had four children: Pam, Alice, Steve, and Tim, whom they raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and in a beach house in Florida. In addit
"He wasn't the most successful trainer of race horses," Mr. Farley recalled, "and in a way I profited by it. He switched from runners to jumpers to show horses to trotters and pacers, then back to runners again. Consequently, I received a good background in different kinds of horse training and the people associated with each."
Walter Farley began to write his first book, THE BLACK STALLION, while he was a student at Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School and Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, and
finished it while he was an undergraduate at Columbia University. It was published by Random House when he was 26. He used his first advance to go traveling and after that hardly stopped longer than it took him to write another book. He traveled and lived in Mexico, Hawaii, the South Seas, most of the South American countries, the Caribbean Islands, and Europe.
The appearance of THE BLACK STALLION in 1941 was hailed by enthusiastic boys and girls all over the country. An avalanche of mail urged Mr. Farley to write more about Alec Ramsey and the Black. But World War II intervened. Mr. Farley went into the US Army, where he spent the next five years. Most of the time he was assigned to Yank, the army weekly magazine, and he was also trained in the Fourth Armored Division.
After the war Walter Farley resumed the adventures of Alec and the Black with THE BLACK STALLION RETURNS. This was followed by SON OF THE BLACK STALLION. Then Mr. Farley tried his hand at a story about a new boy, Steve Duncan, and a new horse, Flame, in THE ISLAND STALLION. Mr. Farley's readers were just as delighted with this book as his others.
Mr. Farley went on to write many more stories about the two stallions, and about other horses as well. Children of all ages have found Farley titles to enjoy, since many of the later stories were written for Mr. Farley's own children when they were too young to read his Stallion novels. And older readers and adults have been gripped by his fictionalized biography of America's greatest Thoroughbred, Man O'War. Walter Farley's titles reached a grand total of 34. The 21 Black Stallion and Island Stallion stories are still in print and selling steadily. His readers respond with passion, writing him thousands of letters and emails every year. In May 1949, the first Black Stallion Club was founded, in Kentucky. Mr. Farley designed a membership button for it; the button was in constant demand among his readers for years. The Black Stallion books were so popular in the late 1940s and '50s that they York Times annual list of best-selling children's books. Three nationwide Black Stallion contests were held. Walter Farley's books have been published abroad in more than 20 countries, including Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Israel, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaya, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as in the United States and Canada.
All his life Walter Farley remained a keen spectator of the racing scene, and he enjoyed nothing more than hobnobbing with horse trainers and other professional horsemen. It is thanks to these people that his books are so full of authentic details of raising and training horses. When not busy working or traveling, Mr. Farley liked to ride dressage and high school Lippizaner horses. He also sailed and sometimes raced his 35-foot auxiliary sloop "Circe."
Mr. Farley and his wife Rosemary, had four children: Pam, Alice, Steve, and Tim, whom they raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and in a beach house in Florida. In addit
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
June 15, 2014
All I really remember is how extremely angry it made me as a 13 or 14 year old that Alec had this great thing going with his horse, the Black, and some random girl shows up and screws it all up.
September 7, 2012
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.
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.
August 30, 2021
This was much more than a typical horse story, much more than a story about horse racing. This was a story about sexism in the racing industry, about ignorance, and about standing up for what’s right instead of going along with the crowd. 50 years after it's first publication in 1971, this book is surprisingly relevant to today.
I have read The Black Stallion, but I didn't remember that The Black became a racehorse. I also didn't know that Walter Farley wrote a whole series about the horse, so when I found this in a box of free books at the end of a driveway I said to myself "Huh, this seems interesting," and picked it up.
I wasn't prepared for how deep this book would go, and how aware of these problems Walter Farley was. Good for him, being feminist in the 70's and writing a book about sexism in the male-dominated horse racing industry. The horse racing industry is still male-dominated and I found a great article from just last year that talks about this. The Sport Of Kings Needs More Queens: Study Finds Women Jockey As Well As Men
Alec Ramsey is in need of a "Reliable man for stable on race-horse farm," who "Must have professional experience handling and riding young horses." Instead of a man, a girl, Pam Athena, shows up at his office to apply for the job. Despite knowing that his trainer Henry Dailey will be furious with him for hiring a girl, Alec agrees to hire Pam after seeing her ride Black Sand.
I liked Pam and admired her strength and confidence. She's a really unique person with a unique way of viewing the world. There is a quote from one of my favourite Disney movies, 2015's Cinderella that reminds me of Pam. "And Ella continued to see the world not as it is, but as it could be."
Over the course of this book Alec comes of age in a way that he becomes more aware of the sexism in his industry. Henry Dailey for example, bases his "tirade" against women on emotion, not logic. Women are just as capable as men as caring for and handling horses, but Henry lets his sex based prejudice get in the way of his logic.
When Alec goes to his parents for advice about what to do about Pam when Henry threatens to quit if he doesn't fire her, he is shocked by their answers. Their replies are also based on emotion rather than logic. I was just as shocked as Alec when he realized that his mother was one of the women who "did not want to face the conflicts involved in challenging male supremacy and who were anxious to avoid the anti-man stigma."
After this conversation with his parents "Alec entered the barn, wondering if possibly his parents and Henry were more fearful than angered by what Pam represented-a passion for life that went beyond obtaining material possessions, all the things they had worked so hard to get." People fear those who they cannot understand, and Henry and Alec’s parents can’t understand Pam.
Even though this book is dealing with problems like sexism in the racing industry, there is a lot of horse racing and time with the Black. I will warn you though, a horse dies in a very tragic accident in this story, so be prepared. It was hard to read, but at least it was a very quick death. The horse never knew what happened.
There were so many passages in this book that struck me in their simple truth, simple truth that is hard for so many of us to accept and understand. This book went much deeper than you’d expect from a book about racehorses and racing. It really opened my eyes to these problems that Walter Farley tackled so well. I’m very glad he wrote this book and that I happened to find it in that box of free books.
"True love is giving up that which you love most, if need be, when the time comes." - Pam
I have read The Black Stallion, but I didn't remember that The Black became a racehorse. I also didn't know that Walter Farley wrote a whole series about the horse, so when I found this in a box of free books at the end of a driveway I said to myself "Huh, this seems interesting," and picked it up.
I wasn't prepared for how deep this book would go, and how aware of these problems Walter Farley was. Good for him, being feminist in the 70's and writing a book about sexism in the male-dominated horse racing industry. The horse racing industry is still male-dominated and I found a great article from just last year that talks about this. The Sport Of Kings Needs More Queens: Study Finds Women Jockey As Well As Men
Alec Ramsey is in need of a "Reliable man for stable on race-horse farm," who "Must have professional experience handling and riding young horses." Instead of a man, a girl, Pam Athena, shows up at his office to apply for the job. Despite knowing that his trainer Henry Dailey will be furious with him for hiring a girl, Alec agrees to hire Pam after seeing her ride Black Sand.
I liked Pam and admired her strength and confidence. She's a really unique person with a unique way of viewing the world. There is a quote from one of my favourite Disney movies, 2015's Cinderella that reminds me of Pam. "And Ella continued to see the world not as it is, but as it could be."
Over the course of this book Alec comes of age in a way that he becomes more aware of the sexism in his industry. Henry Dailey for example, bases his "tirade" against women on emotion, not logic. Women are just as capable as men as caring for and handling horses, but Henry lets his sex based prejudice get in the way of his logic.
When Alec goes to his parents for advice about what to do about Pam when Henry threatens to quit if he doesn't fire her, he is shocked by their answers. Their replies are also based on emotion rather than logic. I was just as shocked as Alec when he realized that his mother was one of the women who "did not want to face the conflicts involved in challenging male supremacy and who were anxious to avoid the anti-man stigma."
After this conversation with his parents "Alec entered the barn, wondering if possibly his parents and Henry were more fearful than angered by what Pam represented-a passion for life that went beyond obtaining material possessions, all the things they had worked so hard to get." People fear those who they cannot understand, and Henry and Alec’s parents can’t understand Pam.
Even though this book is dealing with problems like sexism in the racing industry, there is a lot of horse racing and time with the Black. I will warn you though, a horse dies in a very tragic accident in this story, so be prepared. It was hard to read, but at least it was a very quick death. The horse never knew what happened.
There were so many passages in this book that struck me in their simple truth, simple truth that is hard for so many of us to accept and understand. This book went much deeper than you’d expect from a book about racehorses and racing. It really opened my eyes to these problems that Walter Farley tackled so well. I’m very glad he wrote this book and that I happened to find it in that box of free books.
"True love is giving up that which you love most, if need be, when the time comes." - Pam
April 25, 2014
The girl in this book is somewhat like me, however I could never really see myself being like her. With her hippie kinda of ways. However I know how she felt when she has to prove herself to a bunch of shovenistic men who believe a women's place is in the home not on a horse. I myself have had to go through that with my father in a way. But once he saw what my Arabian stallion Zsa Zsa and I could do he changed his mind very quickly. I also changed the minds of his horse friends. By not using a bit, but a Hackamoore. No spurs and lots of love and friendship that my horse and I shared together. Most people thought he was a killer even in his older age. But to put a young teenage girl who at the time weighed 100 lbs, on the back of a raging stallion, and see how much he calmed down and actually listened to somebody, can open the eyes of a lot of people set in their ways. That yes girls do deserve, and will and are currently working in the world of horses. They will be here for sure, much longer then men will be.
October 7, 2011
This is kind of a spoiler, so if you don't want to be spoiled even the slightest bit, look away. Pam, the titular 'girl', is based on Farley's real-life daughter. It was apparently his way of consoling himself, because she died in real life.
She doesn't die in this book. But it's still crappy.
Why? Pam is a Mary Sue. She's perfect and wonderful and Alec is obsessed with her from the moment she arrives. And, of course, Henry doesn't like her, which makes him the bad guy, naturally.
Oh, and did I mention that we went from Alec being the only one who can ride the Black to Alec and Pam, who is apparently so special and wonderful that the Black loves her, too, and will let her ride him?
Yes. This is extremely annoying, and it doesn't end with this book. Yet.
She doesn't die in this book. But it's still crappy.
Why? Pam is a Mary Sue. She's perfect and wonderful and Alec is obsessed with her from the moment she arrives. And, of course, Henry doesn't like her, which makes him the bad guy, naturally.
Oh, and did I mention that we went from Alec being the only one who can ride the Black to Alec and Pam, who is apparently so special and wonderful that the Black loves her, too, and will let her ride him?
Yes. This is extremely annoying, and it doesn't end with this book. Yet.
August 31, 2015
This one always made me kind of sad, even as a kid. Alec finally meets a girl, and Henry is not happy about it. Then the girl leaves. In about 20 books, this is the closest Alec ever comes to having a relationship. Just because he owns a horse farm doesn't mean he can't have love!
April 21, 2025
3.5 stars (3/10 hearts). I've only ever read the first Stallion book, and this was necessarily quite a leap in timeframe—Alec was a boy then; he is a man here. Once I adjusted my mental clock, I rather enjoyed it, however. I liked Pam a lot, though I didn't always agree with her, and the romance was cute. I also appreciated the slight focus on sexism (from the POV of girls being stereotyped, treated as less-than, and mistreated for stepping into places men think they don't belong) and seeing Becky's & Pam's two very different ways of handling it, as well as the consequences thereof. I also appreciated seeing the brief mention of the different POVs of the older and younger generation, and how hurtful stereotypes can be. I liked the writing style, and there were some bits that were even poetic... although other parts were definitely head-scratchers.
The horse races have always been hard on me, and it was no different this time; but it was certainly exciting. A lot happened in this book, emotionally speaking; actually, it was a lot more emotional than I expected and became a bit heavy for a 'light read.' The end is very bittersweet, but I like it.
So what keeps this from being a full four stars? Mostly that it was a lot more emotionally difficult than I anticipated, and I was in a rather anxious time of life so it was just a little too much for me to fully enjoy at the moment.
The horse races have always been hard on me, and it was no different this time; but it was certainly exciting. A lot happened in this book, emotionally speaking; actually, it was a lot more emotional than I expected and became a bit heavy for a 'light read.' The end is very bittersweet, but I like it.
So what keeps this from being a full four stars? Mostly that it was a lot more emotionally difficult than I anticipated, and I was in a rather anxious time of life so it was just a little too much for me to fully enjoy at the moment.
May 4, 2019
Like most women my age, I grew up reading horse stories and of course The Black Stallion series was part of my regular reading material. However, this was one I missed for whatever reason. This story was written in 1971 as a tribute to Walter Farley's daughter, who died at the age of 20 in a car accident in Europe.
The book opens with Alec getting into a fistfight with a drunken stablehand and firing him. Miraculously, a girl shows up looking to take the job temporarily. The girl, Pam, is young, blonde and beautiful...a free spirited hippie dippy type, but she really has a way with horses. She immediately begins taming a hard to handle colt named Black Sand and Alec falls in Instalove with her. Parts of the story seem a tad dated and childish, but others very adult, such as the descriptions of racing, the treatment of horses and even the way Alec describes Pam's body as he's looking at her. We feel his attraction, which is unusual for middle grade fiction. I wonder if today's kids would have the maturity for this book frankly.
A big part of the story is that Alec's partner Henry is much older and doesn't approve of women racing. He challenges Pam to run Black Sand in a race, where a deadly accident occurs, because of another female jockey, who is so determined to win at any cost that she is too forceful with her horse. Pam is also injured, but in order to get back in the saddle right away, she demands to ride The Black. This part of the story was not believable. It was too neat how the Black just accepted her when no one else can ride him..
After the race, Pam blithely moves on with her nomadic hippie lifestyle, leaving Alec to pine for her and envision their possible future. I liked the book, but I didn't like Pam as a person. I get that she was a product of her time, but she's selfish and her actions hurt the people who love her. The death in the story really bothered me also. Racing really is cruel. I can't say I came away from this book feeling anything other than it should be abolished. But, the writing itself was superb and I felt both like I learned a lot about the world of horse racing and like I read a very thorough period piece which transported me to a time when people were able to speak more freely and things weren't so PC. I will have to reread the rest of the series to see what I remember.
The book opens with Alec getting into a fistfight with a drunken stablehand and firing him. Miraculously, a girl shows up looking to take the job temporarily. The girl, Pam, is young, blonde and beautiful...a free spirited hippie dippy type, but she really has a way with horses. She immediately begins taming a hard to handle colt named Black Sand and Alec falls in Instalove with her. Parts of the story seem a tad dated and childish, but others very adult, such as the descriptions of racing, the treatment of horses and even the way Alec describes Pam's body as he's looking at her. We feel his attraction, which is unusual for middle grade fiction. I wonder if today's kids would have the maturity for this book frankly.
A big part of the story is that Alec's partner Henry is much older and doesn't approve of women racing. He challenges Pam to run Black Sand in a race, where a deadly accident occurs, because of another female jockey, who is so determined to win at any cost that she is too forceful with her horse. Pam is also injured, but in order to get back in the saddle right away, she demands to ride The Black. This part of the story was not believable. It was too neat how the Black just accepted her when no one else can ride him..
After the race, Pam blithely moves on with her nomadic hippie lifestyle, leaving Alec to pine for her and envision their possible future. I liked the book, but I didn't like Pam as a person. I get that she was a product of her time, but she's selfish and her actions hurt the people who love her. The death in the story really bothered me also. Racing really is cruel. I can't say I came away from this book feeling anything other than it should be abolished. But, the writing itself was superb and I felt both like I learned a lot about the world of horse racing and like I read a very thorough period piece which transported me to a time when people were able to speak more freely and things weren't so PC. I will have to reread the rest of the series to see what I remember.
December 10, 2008
very very very good book
Read
May 21, 2010Probably my favorite of them all =).
August 1, 2024
I'm giving this five stars mostly for nostalgia. This was one of the first Black Stallion books I read -- probably the third or fourth -- because my Mom couldn't be bothered to buy the series in order. I'd give her the money, she'd go to a book store in Philly on her lunch break, and that was that.
I had no idea that the Pam in here was based on Farley's actual daughter until I joined Goodreads and read other people's reviews.
Which makes it kinda weird, since Alec falls in love with her. I really, really, REALLY hope Farley did not identify with Alec.
As a kid, I had absolutely no problem with Pam being able to get along with The Black. He was getting older and was mellowing out. Not only that, I was prejudiced enough to believe that ANY patient girl could ride him. Men, with the exception of Alec, were just too darn rough.
I've read this book at least ten times in my youth. I don't know if I'll read it again. It 's because of Black Sand. He was such an enigmatic horse and then was gone in an instant. It's just too painful for me to read that again. Anyone remember what color he was? Farley gave a really weird description. Possibly he was a roan.
The book does show Napoleon as The Black's escort pony to the starting gate. It was nice to see the old boy again.
When I lived in England, I was in a library and startled to see a book titled The Black Stallion and the Stranger. I soon realized it was this book under a different title.
By the way, just stop reading the series here. The next books are not worth it -- even The Young Black Stallion, which is supposed to be about The Black's first two years. The next book is abysmal, and Steven Farley can't write his way out of a wet paper bag.
I had no idea that the Pam in here was based on Farley's actual daughter until I joined Goodreads and read other people's reviews.
Which makes it kinda weird, since Alec falls in love with her. I really, really, REALLY hope Farley did not identify with Alec.
As a kid, I had absolutely no problem with Pam being able to get along with The Black. He was getting older and was mellowing out. Not only that, I was prejudiced enough to believe that ANY patient girl could ride him. Men, with the exception of Alec, were just too darn rough.
I've read this book at least ten times in my youth. I don't know if I'll read it again. It 's because of Black Sand. He was such an enigmatic horse and then was gone in an instant. It's just too painful for me to read that again. Anyone remember what color he was? Farley gave a really weird description. Possibly he was a roan.
The book does show Napoleon as The Black's escort pony to the starting gate. It was nice to see the old boy again.
When I lived in England, I was in a library and startled to see a book titled The Black Stallion and the Stranger. I soon realized it was this book under a different title.
By the way, just stop reading the series here. The next books are not worth it -- even The Young Black Stallion, which is supposed to be about The Black's first two years. The next book is abysmal, and Steven Farley can't write his way out of a wet paper bag.
December 17, 2014
The main character is Alec and Pam. Pam is a new girl employee that Alec hired. Alec rides the Black in races and trains horses at Hopeful Farm when he is't racing. The setting of this book takes place at Hopeful Farm and at racetracks. The conflict in this book is when Alec hires Pam, and Henry doesn't like girls getting into the horse business. So when Alec told Henry that he hired a girl, Henry said that he had to fire her. Alec went back to the farm to tell Pam that she had to leave, but while he was there he didn't tell her. When he got back to the racetrack Henry asked him if he fired her. Alec told him that he didn't tell Pam, and Henry blew a gasket. He was so mad, but then somehow Alec persuaded Henry to let her stay. Pam helps them out a lot because she rode the Black in a $100,000 race. She rode the Black in the race because Alec couldn't ride a horse in a race for 10 days due to the Black being uncontrollable during a race, and bumped into a couple of horses. So, when Pam rode the Black in the $100,000 race and won, she made Hopeful Farm more money to pay off expenses and things.
My opinion on this book is that it is great and I love the way they solve things. This book has some drama but not a lot in it, and I like that. This is truly an awesome book. These books are the best I have read this year. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horses and drama. Horse lovers will like this book along with The Black Stallion series.
My opinion on this book is that it is great and I love the way they solve things. This book has some drama but not a lot in it, and I like that. This is truly an awesome book. These books are the best I have read this year. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horses and drama. Horse lovers will like this book along with The Black Stallion series.
December 8, 2016
Did Walter Farley write a Manic Pixie Dream Girl before the term was coined? I really, really think so:
Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a stock character type in films. Film critic Nathan Rabin, who coined the term after observing Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown (2005), describes the MPDG as "that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."
... Pam is all of the above. Did not enjoy her character at all, and the strange effect she had on Alec, I love the series, but not this book and the preceding one. Bad spell?
Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a stock character type in films. Film critic Nathan Rabin, who coined the term after observing Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown (2005), describes the MPDG as "that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."
... Pam is all of the above. Did not enjoy her character at all, and the strange effect she had on Alec, I love the series, but not this book and the preceding one. Bad spell?
May 1, 2017
Efter at have læst det meste af serien, har jeg fået et helt specielt forhold til hovedpersonen. Jeg har altid forestillet mig ham på en bestemt måde, og det at han finder kærligheden i denne bog var et shock for mig. Det er ikke fordi, jeg ikke forventede det, men i forhold til hvordan forhold i serien ellers bliver bygget op går dette alt for hurtigt for mig. Det virker ikke troværdig så derfor får den kun 3 stjerner. Alt der har med heste at gøre i historien er som sædvanligt upåklageligt og virkelighedstro. Skildringen er kønsroller i historiens tid er også meget realistisk, men dog barsk og man bliver sur på Henry, når man læser den, for hvilket den fortjener 3 stjerner.
October 23, 2017
This wasn't a favorite of mine. It almost felt a bit like that touch of death to all authors : the Nod to femenism. That is the absolute worst, worst thing that can happen to a book. This book was not a total fail, but it was much harder to believe in than any of the others in this series. Alec's relationship with Pam seems sudden and uncharacteristic, not to mention undeveloped. There is a good race scene, and some other cool scenes, but for the most part I didn't really care for it.
May 11, 2016
This book was honestly so cringe-y. It was definitely very 70's as far as its depiction of girls and hippies.
September 24, 2021
All of the later Black Stallion books were a disapointment to me (don't let me begin with the Black Stallions Ghost :/ All books after Sulky Colt were not to my liking), but this one???
I feel deeply sorry for Walter Farley. Losing a child must be the most horrendous tradgedy one can endure, but maybe he should have written a book outside the series to honor her life.
And I have to admit, I don't like Pam. She's to perfect or at least that's what Walter Farley throws in our faces. Perfect little hippie girl, that's loved by all horses. Even the never easily trusting Black. Yeah, well...
Just about everything about this book feels wrong to me. Lets start with the time it's playing in. Late 60's/early 70's? As far as I remember the early books played in the 40's, so even if we make a time jump, it should be early 50's at the latest!?? Is Alec suddenly an old creep going after young girls? I don't think so.
Henry! What happend to my beloved Henry? He's always been a hard head, stubborn as they come, but he was never mean, never only after money. He was a horse lover to the bone!!!
I always wished, Alec had the chance to find his happy ending, so this feels like a slap in the face to me. Especially knowing what happens in the next book und also knowing that is's the ending after that. Alec, Henry and the Black deserved more. So did the readers.
English is not my first language. If you find any mistakes, please keep them to yourself ^_^
I feel deeply sorry for Walter Farley. Losing a child must be the most horrendous tradgedy one can endure, but maybe he should have written a book outside the series to honor her life.
And I have to admit, I don't like Pam. She's to perfect or at least that's what Walter Farley throws in our faces. Perfect little hippie girl, that's loved by all horses. Even the never easily trusting Black. Yeah, well...
Just about everything about this book feels wrong to me. Lets start with the time it's playing in. Late 60's/early 70's? As far as I remember the early books played in the 40's, so even if we make a time jump, it should be early 50's at the latest!?? Is Alec suddenly an old creep going after young girls? I don't think so.
Henry! What happend to my beloved Henry? He's always been a hard head, stubborn as they come, but he was never mean, never only after money. He was a horse lover to the bone!!!
I always wished, Alec had the chance to find his happy ending, so this feels like a slap in the face to me. Especially knowing what happens in the next book und also knowing that is's the ending after that. Alec, Henry and the Black deserved more. So did the readers.
English is not my first language. If you find any mistakes, please keep them to yourself ^_^
December 17, 2022
This is definitely the most different Black Stallion book. Nevertheless, I suggest highly.
Summary:
Alec Ramsay is startled that a girl wants the job meant for a man. But when Alec see how good the girl, Pam Athena, is with horses, he hires her. But when Henry figures out, he pitches a fit. He tells Alec you either fire her, or I'm leaving. Alec goes back to Hopeful Farm to fire her, but he finds he can't.
Eventually, Alec falls in love with her and defiNITELY can't fire her now. When he takes her to Aqueduct, Henry is pretty mad. But then he meets her, and he accepts that. After Alec is uselessly suspended from racing for doing pretty much nothing, Pam has to race. Alec is pretty paranoid about it, but she has to do it anyway. She's hurt in her first race, and now Alec is pretty freaked out about her next race. After she wins the race, she says she's leaving and going to Maryland and a bunch of places in Europe. Alec is desperate to keep her wit him, and even suggest marriage. Pam says she'll marry him, bit she's not ready yet. She leaves and Alec must carry on without her until he goes to Maryland to visit her.
Summary:
Alec Ramsay is startled that a girl wants the job meant for a man. But when Alec see how good the girl, Pam Athena, is with horses, he hires her. But when Henry figures out, he pitches a fit. He tells Alec you either fire her, or I'm leaving. Alec goes back to Hopeful Farm to fire her, but he finds he can't.
Eventually, Alec falls in love with her and defiNITELY can't fire her now. When he takes her to Aqueduct, Henry is pretty mad. But then he meets her, and he accepts that. After Alec is uselessly suspended from racing for doing pretty much nothing, Pam has to race. Alec is pretty paranoid about it, but she has to do it anyway. She's hurt in her first race, and now Alec is pretty freaked out about her next race. After she wins the race, she says she's leaving and going to Maryland and a bunch of places in Europe. Alec is desperate to keep her wit him, and even suggest marriage. Pam says she'll marry him, bit she's not ready yet. She leaves and Alec must carry on without her until he goes to Maryland to visit her.
May 18, 2019
I hadn't read this book for 25 years when I found it in the back of my bookshelf. For nostalgia's sake, I sat down and read it in two sittings. But I couldn't remember why I had even kept this book.
I hated the feminist agenda pushed down the reader's throat. I hated the ending. I hated how I can't even figure out why the climax ended as it did. Was it to prove only that cruelty to animals doesn't pay? Or that the Black Stallion could race with someone else riding him? No wonder I never re-read this in all the years I held onto these few Black Stallion books.
The only good thing about it was the crispness of the action scenes. I'm still amazed that there were so many details to be described in a race that lasts only a few seconds.
However, on the whole, I don't recommend this book.
Favorite quotes: “Their long, think manes and fine coats—black, bay, chestnut and gray—had the gleam of wild silk in the early morning sun. Their deep shoulders and chests and muscular, arched necks breathed forth inexhaustible strength, endurance and spirit.” (p.7)
I hated the feminist agenda pushed down the reader's throat. I hated the ending. I hated how I can't even figure out why the climax ended as it did. Was it to prove only that cruelty to animals doesn't pay? Or that the Black Stallion could race with someone else riding him? No wonder I never re-read this in all the years I held onto these few Black Stallion books.
The only good thing about it was the crispness of the action scenes. I'm still amazed that there were so many details to be described in a race that lasts only a few seconds.
However, on the whole, I don't recommend this book.
Favorite quotes: “Their long, think manes and fine coats—black, bay, chestnut and gray—had the gleam of wild silk in the early morning sun. Their deep shoulders and chests and muscular, arched necks breathed forth inexhaustible strength, endurance and spirit.” (p.7)
October 9, 2023
It's rare that I say this, but I LOATHED this book. Mr. Farley is gifted in writing about horses and horse racing in particular, but he cannot write people, and especially relationships.
Pam was awful and unlikable, and I honestly couldn't understand why these characters behaved in the way they were written. Henry was an ass and his reason for being an ass was barely coherent (and to be fair, may be more a sign of the times than anything else) - he's become increasingly unlikable as these books have continued.
Alec and Pam's relationship made NO SENSE, and the cherry on this festering mess of a book was Black Sand's story, it's not what I am looking for in books about horses, and after 16 books in this series, it's not what I expect as a reader of this series.
I was offended by the ending, it felt like the magic of Alec and The Black's relationship was diminished significantly. I hated it. HATE.
Don't read this book, even (or especially?) if you are a fan of the series.
Pam was awful and unlikable, and I honestly couldn't understand why these characters behaved in the way they were written. Henry was an ass and his reason for being an ass was barely coherent (and to be fair, may be more a sign of the times than anything else) - he's become increasingly unlikable as these books have continued.
Alec and Pam's relationship made NO SENSE, and the cherry on this festering mess of a book was Black Sand's story, it's not what I am looking for in books about horses, and after 16 books in this series, it's not what I expect as a reader of this series.
I was offended by the ending, it felt like the magic of Alec and The Black's relationship was diminished significantly. I hated it. HATE.
Don't read this book, even (or especially?) if you are a fan of the series.
August 18, 2024
Incredible, just incredible. This was so clearly a love letter to his daughter Pam. She died in a car crash at the age of 20 in 1968. There was just so much love in this book. I got weepy at the end (that's the second time this series has made me cry). I was not expecting Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and Eric Clapton to be mentioned, but I'm so glad they were. The way Pam talked about building a better world was very reminiscent of mystics like Julian of Norwich and Richard Rohr. I really appreciated the calling-out of racism and sexism. This series is endlessly fascinating; I can honestly say I've never read anything like it.
September 5, 2019
Walter Farley mentioned in interviews that this book is a "tribute" to his daughter, Pam, who died in 1968. It's very dated, since apparently Pam was a hippie chick. This could have been a much better book. Alec deserves to fall in love. But wow - Henry has become quite the intolerant curmudgeon in this book. Also his parents. If I was Belle Ramsay, I'd be THRILLED that my son was finally showing an interest in the ladies! And I wouldn't have killed Pam off in the next book - to see Alec get married and have children would've been nice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 10, 2023
Originally got at goodwill as a gift for my sister, I figured I'd add it to my collection of books to read, and to pad out my reading challenge here on goodreads. At first I wasn't sure I would've liked the story, jumping in at almost the last book in the series, but I found myself loving it. I feel as though the story could be strong as a stand alone. I can relate to Alec in a few ways, growing up with old fashioned parents, and not understanding the youth I was a part of until a bit later on, but end up finding the pieces you love and want to hold onto.
October 18, 2023
As much as I wanted to give this book a better rating, I couldn’t.
As someone who takes care of horses and rides, this is simply unrealistic. I did not like the plot whatsoever and could not stand the characters. In what world does someone get on a wild horse with overconfidence? No one!
I very much so believe that the author could have done a lot better and try to be at least a little more realistic.
1/5 ⭐️
As someone who takes care of horses and rides, this is simply unrealistic. I did not like the plot whatsoever and could not stand the characters. In what world does someone get on a wild horse with overconfidence? No one!
I very much so believe that the author could have done a lot better and try to be at least a little more realistic.
1/5 ⭐️
March 5, 2022
This is quite possibly my least favorite book in the series. In this book, Alec doesn't like the girl who is working at the Farm now, and then, of course, decides he likes her. I just really wasn't impressed with that cliché love story stuff even back when I originally read this book. I fit in with the series, it just wasn't my personal favorite.
May 24, 2017
I think most girls who read these books were in love with Alec, so I loved the romantic angle with this one
March 20, 2019
it was a good book but it wasn't my favorite
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June 26, 2019💗one of my favorite books as a preadolescent.
January 2, 2021
Farley should not write romantic books this book was out of his element.
November 18, 2021
Walter Farleys tribute to his daughter that passed away. About love and loss and the world of horse racing.
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