14 books like Phantom Stallion

This is another oldie, but a goodie! The Unicorns of Balinor was my favorite book series as a kid, and I’ve even revisited it as an adult. I may or may not have painted some model horses after the Sunchaser. This is a testament to how good of a story this is—growing up, these books were always checked out at the library! (Yes, that was the cool thing to do back then.) If you’re looking for epic fantasy adventures with fantastical unicorns, this is for you.

The pegasi characters in this story are a lot like humans, but they’re also a lot like horses. Their personalities are as unique as their names! I love how this highlights a young animal’s life in a really relatable, playful way that adults can enjoy, too. This book reminded me of the joy of horse foals in real life, but it also made me think a lot about what it means to be true to yourself and your calling.

This book (and series) was amazing before it was a TV show. Do yourself a favor and read. The. Books! Heartland is a powerful story of how horses can help us make sense of loss; additionally, it highlights how horses can help us connect to a deeper part of ourselves. Plus, the herbal knowledge in the books is way better than the TV show, and you might actually learn something your four-legged friends might like rubbed on their noses.

I absolutely love this book even though it’s written in British English. It’s a great rags-to-riches, character-driven story that communicates the thrill of eventing. You never know what you’re going to get with horses until you’ve got it. Sometimes the one-dollar horses can be just as great as the six-figure ones. The story will stick with you long after the book is finished!

This book isn’t fiction, but it feels like it. I am wrapped in the reality of the frontier through letters, diaries, recipes, and great old photos–every time I pick it up. And that’s often.

I first gave this book to my mother, but my husband paged through it so many hours each time we visited that I gave him his own copy. Cooking on the trail, on cattle drives, in camps, and finally, on hardscrabble ranches and farms isn’t easy. The book is full of struggles, and I feel for the women who wrested survival out of the earth daily.

They write about being driven crazy by the relentless wind, shortages, and loneliness, but there are plenty of jolly–it’s the best word for their beaming faces–pictures. I love what those old photos show: an appreciation for nature, family, and farm animals, and their determination to have tea parties and make… show more.

I’m still not satisfied with delayed gratification! In great words and pictures, this book sums up that rebellion against getting great stuff later. A little boy is repeatedly told he can ride a horse along with his cowgirl mom and rancher dad “someday.”

I grew up with chronic asthma that was aggravated by running, playing, dust, and horse hair. Doctors told me that I’d outgrow it "someday." That didn’t help. On television and in books, I soaked up the free-wheeling freedom of riding. And wanted it. I longed to ride so much that–like the boy in this book–my parents saw it was important. About once a month, my parents rented a horse that I could ride along the (now cement-lined) riverbeds of Southern California.

Yes, they’d be up all night with me, wheezing. No, they weren’t giving in to me. They satisfied my need to be myself–not a cowgirl, but… show more.

This ranch-centered book puts a human face on the cost of war.

A best in the West (or at least his small Nevada town) bull rider is physically and mentally torn apart by war. He can’t see the future he envisioned for himself anymore. But the story is really about his younger brother, Cam. I love Cam’s humor most of all, but his devotion to his idolized big brother is what makes this more than a story about a skateboarder turned bull rider.   

This book is about family in an opposite way from The Red Pony it confirms the safety net family can provide. 

When I taught Developmental Reading (aka English for Gang Members) in Los Angeles, this book made them cry.  Sad stories that include animals can jab straight into the most sheltered heart, while books about suffering humans only evoke yawns.

Reading this as an adult, it’s clearly NOT a horse story, but that’s its camouflage. There’s a lot of death in this book–a beloved pony, an old man with a stolen old horse, a mare giving birth, and the main character’s innocence. Childhood innocence dies over and over again. Just when his faith in what matters resurfaces, it gets smacked down again. The older I get, the more this book hurts.

Jody, the boy at the center of all 3 parts of the book (there are different versions of the book…some have 4 parts), wants to put the adults in his life on pedestals, but his father is as callous as… show more.

It’s easy to find books about vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and witches… but very rarely do you stumble across a young adult book about sirens. Not the mermaid kind (we’ve already covered mermaids), but still sinister, manipulative, and dangerous. Despite this threatening presence, this book is absolutely hilarious and a fantastic adventure. It’s also an LGBT story written by an LGBT author who has always said that this was a book he wrote for his younger self. To let him, and kids like him, know that he’s not alone. And I just love that. 

Suze Simon might be one of my favorite characters of all time.

She’s a mediator (which means she speaks to the dead, and sometimes kicks their butts too). She grew up in New York, which made her tough and edgy. Our story starts when her mom remarries and they move to sunny California to live with Suze’s new stepdad and step-brothers (who are all varying degrees of hilarious, annoying, and down right adorable). Suze has to figure out how to navigate going from life as an only child to life as one of four kids kind of overnight.

I love how Meg Cabot plays with what it’s like to be the new kid, particularly the new kid with a BIG secret.