The Black Stallion Returns

OK - now you guys really started it. I carefully restrained myself from getting into the nitty gritty of the books and which are my favorites in my previous post BUT with all this talk about the series in the comments.....but I can no longer restrain myself.

I didn't know that The Black Stallion was series for the first 3 years I read it. My earliest memories of the Black Stallion was me reading it (and not for the first time) when we moved to Davis - I was going into the first grade. Two years later we moved, and having a residence that was bigger than a matchbox, books were brought out of storage and my mom presented me "The Black Stallion Returns".

I hated it. I read it once. I was mad at my Mom for even giving it to me to read.

Then I discovered something else - there were more Black Stallion books - more and more and more! The next years were spent in the "F" section of juvenile fiction at the local library.

As an adult, after graduating from college, I started to actually buy my favorite Black Stallion books - The Black Stallion's Filly, The Black Stallion's Sulky Colt.

And then....for my birthday this year my Mom made me an offer - would I like a selection of Black Stallion books for my birthday? Would I???? WOULD I??????? WHOOOO HOOOO!

I let her pick the selection after we both agreed that The Black Stallion and the Girl was just weird, The Black Stallion Ghost was just weird, and The Black Stallion's Mystery was just kind of....dumb.

I recieved "The Island Stallion" (one of my mom's favorites), the original "The Black Stallion" (my very own copy!), "The Black Stallion and Satan" (guess who's faster......), "The Black Stallion Revolts" (every good story has a case of amnesia), and......

You guessed it.....

"The Black Stallion Returns".

As an adult I appreciate this story more. It's subtleties and nuances that were lost on me as a kid, made this book a enjoyable read as an adult.

Mother's always know best.

In fact, I have trouble understanding what about this book even scared me so much as a kid. I was such a wimp. The violence of Alec of Black getting shot at? Alec being tortured? or maybe just the fact that there was "change" and Alec and the Black were no longer together and there's no reassurance that they would ever be to together again.

So while I may still prefer the story of Black Minx or Bonfire to the story of how Alec lost the Black, I no longer have to hide the book underneath a pile blankets in the corner of the room while I sleep.