SHILOH By:Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

We are all familiar with SHILOH, but I wanted to read it again because it is one of my daughter's favorite books. This Newberry Medal winner is the first in a trilogy of Shiloh books written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. This story is based on a real dog, that the author met while visiting relatives in Shiloh, West Virginia. Phyllis Naylor thought the little dog may have been abused and started writing with her as the basis for this book. The dog still lives in Shiloh and although she is a lot older, she is doing great! This story has a lot of deeper issues going on than just an abused dog. It is about family values, alcoholism, abusing animals, life in rural West Virginia, fighting for what you want, and working hard for what you want. Marty, the main character, knows that Shiloh is being abused by his mean neighbor, Judd Travers, who drinks too much and shoots animals whenever he wants to. Marty is determined to rescue Shiloh from Judd, even if means blackmailing him and then having to work off his debt to him. Marty and Shiloh are both scared of Judd, who is so rotten that he names his dogs cuss words or how much he paid for them like "35"or "40," and shoots deers out of season just to do it. Marty comes from a loving and supportive family, with parents that would go to any lengths to protect their children and who genuinely care about what is happening in their children's lives. The other peculiar thing about Judd Travers is that he wants his hunting dogs to be the best and his pick-up truck to always look perfect, probably to hide what is not so perfect about him.
          I have read this book out loud to my daughter and it is difficult as a read aloud. The author likes to use relaxed English, so there is a lot of "ain'ts" and "don'ts" etc. I almost didn't want to read these words to her, especially because the grammar is so bad, but I realized that you do to need to read it just like it is to make it more authentic and real. Marty is lucky in that he knows he can talk to his parents about anything, and at eleven years old, he has a lot of perseverance. I am almost envious of the life the author describes for this family in this rural town. The children are always outside playing on the swing, running in the field or the woods, and playing in the stream. Marty and his friend play "spy" too. Marty wants Shiloh to be his dog, and Judd makes him work off his debt, although Marty is always fearful that Judd will try to keep Shiloh anyway. In the end, Marty does work off his debt to Judd and he tries very hard to be his friend.......so now I need to read Shiloh Season to see what happens next.
           Phyllis Naylor has written over 100 books including the Shiloh trilogy and she lives in Bethesda, MD. Shiloh is now available on DVD.