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The Phantom Roan
220 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
59 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Holt
7 books1 followerHarlan Howard Thompson, American author of children's books, former international president of PEN International.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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August 30, 2010What I learned from this book? Mostly that the mistaken assumption that old books were not as fun to read that I held as a child is flawed. This book did have some dated language that I had to look up but it was a fun book that told a story about a time and place - 1940s Canadian Rockies cattle ranching - that I knew nothing about.
July 31, 2012
I loved this book. Perfect for a young girl who loves horses. Read this in 7th grade oh so many years ago.
October 20, 2022
The Phantom Roan is a wonderful old western, with an engaging story line for horse lovers and anyone who enjoys a Western or cowboy tale. The book works on several levels, offering some insight into lifestyles, mentalities, opportunities in small towns out west in the late 1940s.
The book is a page turner despite being written many decades ago.
The book is a page turner despite being written many decades ago.
December 10, 2019
Basically, the story was decent, the writing was not. Very choppy and sometimes things just seemed to "happen."
May 3, 2020
I enjoyed the story, both as a kid and adult, but the writing left unresolved loopholes and events that just “happened”. Yes, I know it’s fiction.
April 12, 2024
Not one of Holt's best. There are some interesting story ideas here, but the writing is weirdly choppy and jumps around a lot.
October 25, 2017
The story of a young man who tames a crazy wild bronco.
This was very fun, and for a change of pace, is set in Canada.
This was very fun, and for a change of pace, is set in Canada.
July 21, 2024
Although I currently own the Grosset and Dunlap Famous Horse Stories hardback edition, I used to have this in the paperback, but originally read it in its first edition, which was in my school library. I can confidently say that, except for the covers, they're all the same. It really doesn't matter which edition you read, although any edition with the Pers Crowell illustrations is a plus, since he was such a kick-ass equine artist.
This is Harlan Thompson/Stephen Holt's best book. It caught on with readers, which is why this is only one of three books of his which went to paperback. I have a feeling Thompson/Holt's favorite was Wild Palomino, since he has the title horse and his owner appear in cameos in two other of his books, including this one.
This has basically the same formula that all Thompson/Holt horse stories have -- boy and special horse have to save the ranch, because the rest of the family is useless. Here we have two twists on the formula:
* The special horse is dead before the story starts ... which means our boy has to find ANOTHER special horse.
* Well, this I can't tell you without spoiling the end.
Our boy is a foster kid this time. His foster father is mentally retarded or autistic or something not specified, and I just wanted to slap the foster mother for being too saintly. Thompson/Holt dedicated this book "To the memory of my beloved Mother" so I wonder if his mother was too damn saintly, as well.
Another twist is that our boy also wants to be a veterinarian ... as well as save the ranch. He was a rodeo competitor, but hates the abuses he's seen at the rodeos. Rodeos play big parts in most Thompson/Holt books, so the author's change of mind is extraordinary.
Although the covers of this book show the Phantom Roan to be pink or a bizarre green, he's actually a blue roan with a white diamond. I wish I could add an image here, but the copy and paste function refuses to work on my stupid tablet. I can only recommend that you Google "blue roan mustang" and cross your fingers.
This book is a snapshot of its time, since there was huge public interest in the biggest rodeo of them all back then -- at Madison Square Garden. Gene Autrey and Champion perform. There's no way a New York cabbie would give two hoots about a rodeo, today, but back in the late 1940s, a conversation like he and our boy could've happened.
There's a really evil bad guy that seems to be French Canadian that does some heinous things. He really gets the plot moving, though. There's also a rancher that locks horns with the local veterinarian over the issue of dipping cattle. Although it seems a silly issue now, people who refuse to care for their animals or listen to reason have never gone away. In fact, there seems to be more of them than ever.
Yeah, some of this book is a bit over the top, but as a reading experience, it's a total blast. There are very good reasons why I bought this book twice in my life. Sky is a compelling horse, and the story is very horsey, not just a Western set in the late 1940s.
This is Harlan Thompson/Stephen Holt's best book. It caught on with readers, which is why this is only one of three books of his which went to paperback. I have a feeling Thompson/Holt's favorite was Wild Palomino, since he has the title horse and his owner appear in cameos in two other of his books, including this one.
This has basically the same formula that all Thompson/Holt horse stories have -- boy and special horse have to save the ranch, because the rest of the family is useless. Here we have two twists on the formula:
* The special horse is dead before the story starts ... which means our boy has to find ANOTHER special horse.
* Well, this I can't tell you without spoiling the end.
Our boy is a foster kid this time. His foster father is mentally retarded or autistic or something not specified, and I just wanted to slap the foster mother for being too saintly. Thompson/Holt dedicated this book "To the memory of my beloved Mother" so I wonder if his mother was too damn saintly, as well.
Another twist is that our boy also wants to be a veterinarian ... as well as save the ranch. He was a rodeo competitor, but hates the abuses he's seen at the rodeos. Rodeos play big parts in most Thompson/Holt books, so the author's change of mind is extraordinary.
Although the covers of this book show the Phantom Roan to be pink or a bizarre green, he's actually a blue roan with a white diamond. I wish I could add an image here, but the copy and paste function refuses to work on my stupid tablet. I can only recommend that you Google "blue roan mustang" and cross your fingers.
This book is a snapshot of its time, since there was huge public interest in the biggest rodeo of them all back then -- at Madison Square Garden. Gene Autrey and Champion perform. There's no way a New York cabbie would give two hoots about a rodeo, today, but back in the late 1940s, a conversation like he and our boy could've happened.
There's a really evil bad guy that seems to be French Canadian that does some heinous things. He really gets the plot moving, though. There's also a rancher that locks horns with the local veterinarian over the issue of dipping cattle. Although it seems a silly issue now, people who refuse to care for their animals or listen to reason have never gone away. In fact, there seems to be more of them than ever.
Yeah, some of this book is a bit over the top, but as a reading experience, it's a total blast. There are very good reasons why I bought this book twice in my life. Sky is a compelling horse, and the story is very horsey, not just a Western set in the late 1940s.
July 11, 2019
Glenn's days at his foster family's ranch are numbered. His foster father has lost the last of his cattle and Glenn's own horse just died from colic. He has made an uneasy peace with going to work for his foster uncle at the bank, but when he discovers an injured, if outlaw, horse on his way to his new post, he just can't bring himself to step away from his life as a cowboy. Glenn goes to work for the local vet, Doc Crane, hoping to follow his dream of becoming a veterinarian himself while nursing his outlaw horse, Sky, back to health. His efforts to win Sky over seem hopeless, as does his work with the doctor that is supposed to culminate in dipping all the cattle on the range in order to eradicate mange. Glenn will have to dig deep down for that dogged determination that kept him out of the city in order to accomplish it all.
It's a great book with a strong plot and a real sense of the determination Glenn tackles his problem with. There are a lot of loose ends, though - what happened with the Shoestring ranch is never explained, even though Abbie specifically tells Glenn "we'll talk about it soon" and the budding romance that is hinted at is then dropped and never addressed again. Many other threads are picked up, but not finished, such as Alan's resistance to local activities and the doctor's mysterious visit to Ottawa, making the story feel incomplete at the end. Tension becomes tedious with too much time spent on Glenn's inner musings, rather than action. Still, I have a soft spot for the book and the relationships that it builds within.
It's a great book with a strong plot and a real sense of the determination Glenn tackles his problem with. There are a lot of loose ends, though - what happened with the Shoestring ranch is never explained, even though Abbie specifically tells Glenn "we'll talk about it soon" and the budding romance that is hinted at is then dropped and never addressed again. Many other threads are picked up, but not finished, such as Alan's resistance to local activities and the doctor's mysterious visit to Ottawa, making the story feel incomplete at the end. Tension becomes tedious with too much time spent on Glenn's inner musings, rather than action. Still, I have a soft spot for the book and the relationships that it builds within.
May 19, 2016
Read this years ago and really liked it!
September 8, 2015
Loved this book as a kid. Read it over and over.
April 21, 2017
One of my favorite horse stories growing up and an favorite for re-reading as an adult. From back of book:
"The outlaw! The roan waved his foot back and forth in ceaseless pain. I thought so, muttered Glenn. It's a rock in the frog. He pulled a pocketknife from his levis. Sterlizing the blade in the fire, he probed for the rock. It came free a three cornered jagged piece of granite. And so begins a partnership of boy and horse that climaxes in the Rodeo in New York's Madison Square Garden"
"The outlaw! The roan waved his foot back and forth in ceaseless pain. I thought so, muttered Glenn. It's a rock in the frog. He pulled a pocketknife from his levis. Sterlizing the blade in the fire, he probed for the rock. It came free a three cornered jagged piece of granite. And so begins a partnership of boy and horse that climaxes in the Rodeo in New York's Madison Square Garden"
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews