The classic tale of a boy who along with a wild black stallion are the only survivors of a shipwreck and end up surviving together for a few months on a deserted island before a fortunate accident gets them rescued. When the boy returns home with the horse, the neighbor who is stabling him is convinced that he could be a race champion and thus the training begins for both of them. Unfortunately, the Black does not have proper papers to allow him to actually enter the race circuit and it looks like the dream of racing him may be dead before it even takes its first breath. Hope is rekindled though when a race between the East Coast champion and the West Coast champion has been arranged to see who reigns supreme. When they talk to the sports writer who has set up the race, they are able to bring him around to their side and since it's not an official race, the Black is able to participate. Of course our story is a hero's tale and the Black wins in amazing style.
I've heard of the story all my life but never read the book or even seen the movie. Considering how much I loved horses growing up, I'm not sure why I didn't. However, as I've been working on collecting classics for my children through the years I did make sure it came in and the 9yr old finally requested it. While there were no real surprises in the story, it was sweetly told with well written action scenes and without anthropomorphisizing the Black, we were still able to clearly understand his feelings.
Page count: 276p/32,791p ytd/247,707p lifetime
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