Shiloh

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely excellent!
Review: I started reading the shiloh books and couldn't stop! Some parts in shiloh are so happy and others sad, and they always end up with excellent endings!

Rating:
Summary: THE BEST STORY ABOUT A DOG AND THOSE WHO LOVE THAT DOG
Review: This book is one of the most beautiful, moving and very Christian stories I have ever had the pleasure to read. The central character, Marty, is part of a Christian chain of events. Marty saves the adorable beagle pup's life. He is able to forgive the cruel man who beat and neglected the hound. Marty's parents and sisters are also loving, richly drawn and wonderful characters who add to the story. Mere words do not do this justice. It is and will remain a timeless classic.

A salute to the author -- in recent years I adopted a beagle from the shelter. She, like Shiloh, had been beaten and left to roam the streets. Shiloh was loosely based on a dog named "Clover" who, like Shiloh, was adopted into a loving home. (There is a large female beagle in my neighborhood named Shiloh. She's beautiful).

My beagle is named Falcon Futura (like the classic Ford car, she is a better idea and when she flaps her ears, she looks like a falcon in flight). Falcon has been a pet therapy dog for senior citizens in a nearby nursing home. She has been great medicine for the folks there and one nurse said she had gotten a beagle because she liked Falcon. She couldn't think of a name for the dog, so I suggested "Clover," in honor of the literary Shiloh's real counterpart. "Clover, like in a good luck charm," I said at the time. I was delighted to learn days later she named her hound Clover. Shiloh is a continuum of love. It's great.

Rating:
Summary: A Boy, a Beagle. . .and a Dilemma
Review: What a wonderful book! I read it after my 11-year old son suggested it as a change from my usual reading fare of history and biography. It turned out to be much more than just a summertime reading diversion...it became for me a deeply moving reading experience in its own right. I was quickly captivated by Marty and his family, Shiloh, the beagle, and yes, even the despicable Judd Travers.

The story is straightforward: Marty Preston is an eleven-year old boy living with his parents and two younger sisters in rural West Virginia. It is a close-knit, loving family with traditional values and a clearly defined set of rules to live by. His father is a mail carrier and his mother a homemaker.

One Sunday afternoon, as Marty is walking along a backwoods road, he spies a young beagle hiding under a bush. He calls to it, but the dog doesn't respond. When Marty walks away, the dog follows him. Marty tries to get the dog to come to him several times, but the animal, which has obviously been abused, cowers miserably. Finally, the dog happily comes to Marty when the boy whistles at him. Marty immediately falls in love with the dog, whom he names Shiloh. The little beagle responds with trust and affection. The boy quickly figures out that Shiloh belongs to Judd Travers, a local ne'er-do-well, and a man with an unsavory reputation for dishonesty, a hot temper, and animal abuse. Marty wants to keep Shiloh, to protect him from Judd. However, his parents insist he return the dog to its rightful owner, which Marty begrudgingly does.

Shiloh runs away from Judd a second time and finds his way back to Marty's house. This time, Marty vows to keep him. He hides the dog, sneaks food out of the house to feed him, and begins to lie to friends and family when questioned about Shiloh's whereabouts. A tragic accident causes Marty's secret to be found out by his parents. He is forced once again to return Shiloh to his master. Marty, desperate to keep Shiloh, offers to do almost anything to get Judd to give him the dog.

I won't give away the ending of the book; suffice it to say, it is a dramatic and compassionate ending, sure to move anyone who reads this book.

"Shiloh" is a beautifully and masterfully written in every way. It is written in the first person, from Marty's point of view. The narrative is written in a rural West Virginia dialect that sounds totally natural and unaffected. It seemed almost possible for me to hear Marty speak as I read along. The book's plot is absolutely superb - tightly woven, dramatic, and realistic. Each of the characters come to life with complete believability. All of the situations presented in the narrative are easy to understand and appropriate for young readers.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor proves why she is such a gifted writer of children's books, mainly because she so brilliantly fires the reader's imagination and teaches positive values. In the story, she presents Marty with an ethical dilemma which, at one time or another, all children face. Marty's predicament is this: whether to do what is right in the eyes of a higher authority (his parents) when it is a reasonable certainty that the action will result in a great wrong being done by someone else; or to do what his heart says is right, even though that action is wrong in the eyes of the higher authority (his parents). Marty's dilemma is compounded his conscience, which speaks loudly and often to him, demanding from him both honesty and a sense of fair play. How Marty responds to these challenges is the great lesson taught by this book.

"Shiloh" is a winner of the Newbery Medal and a classic of children's literature. I heartily recommend it to kids of all ages...from 9 to 99.

Rating:
Summary: Both boys and girls will love Shiloh!
Review: Shiloh is a wonderful example of realistic fiction for children. The story revolves around Marty, a small town boy in the hills of West Virginia. There isn't much money, and putting food on the table is difficult and all consuming for the adults of his community.

Marty spends his free time roaming the hills with his rifle, until he discovers Shiloh, a dog, whom he learns lives with constant abuse by his owner. Marty determines to rescue Shiloh and care for the dog he immediately becomes attached to. He finds, however, that simply wanting something, is not a determinant of taking possession: he is stunned that the abusive owner has rights, which is confusing and heartbreaking for him.

Throughout the story, Marty is confronted by moral issues which he must wrestle with as he focuses his attention on loving Shiloh and finding a way to make life better for the dog. In doing so, his values are questioned and his morality is strengthened. He must learn to solve moral dilemmas by analyzing the choices he has. He realizes that adults don't always do the right thing, nor do they always have the answers to questions. Most, important, he learns to recognize that he has the ability, within himself, to realize the resolve it takes to do the right thing in the face of adversity.

Young readers will experience these dilemmas with Marty, and the story provides youngsters with the opportunity to develop their own moral skills along with him.

Rating:
Summary: A very interesting book!
Review: This book Shiloh really moves you inside, especially when you read what a mean man does to Shiloh(The dog this book is about). The book is all about a boy and a dog. One day Marty was out and he sees a dog. When he finds out that the dog belongs to a man that abuses this dog he doesn't want to give him up. Marty has to find a way to get the dog or even to buy the dog. DO YOU THINK HE WILL GET THE DOG? Read this book and all about the relationship between a boy and man's best friend.

Rating:
Summary: Shiloh
Review: Shiloh is the first book in Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's trilogy about Marty and Shioh, a beagle that he rescues from Judd Travers, a man who abuses his hunting dogs.

The story is set in Friendly, WV and is told by Marty who finds Shiloh and is determined that Judd Travers does not deserve such a wonderful dog. His father makes him return the dog to Judd Travers the first time he finds him, but the second time Shiloh runs away, Marty hides him for a week before he is caught.

This is a great series that offers many important subjects that can be discussed with your child.

Rating:
Summary: gotta read it
Review: I gave the book Shiloh four stars because I thought Shiloh was a really good book for those of us who like dogs. The part that really stood out to me was the perserverance he had to keep the dog. For example, when he had to sneak out in the middle of the night to feed Shiloh. The part that was funny to me was when Jud Traverse fell over a rabbit trap and got it caught on his bottom. Over all, the book Shiloh would be a great book for anyone to read.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Book
Review: I think Shiloh is a very good book. It has some sad parts. It has some very happy parts. I enjoyed reading about how much Shiloh meant to Marty. He worked so hard to get Shiloh. I like this kind of book. I think all 6th and 7th graders should read it. That is if you like a good book.

Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK!
Review: For my book report I read the book Shiloh. It's about a boy who finds a dog that belongs to someone else. At the end of the book, he gets to keep the dog. Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is a really good author.

Rating:
Summary: "Marty' Growth from Childhood Innoncence to Adult Maturity"
Review: The children's novel Shiloh is about a young boy, Marty Preston, who encounters a stray dog on one of his summer adventures through the West Virginia countryside. Marty befriends the dog only to find out that he belongs to Judd Travers, a hunter who abuses his dogs. Knowing in his heart that he cannot return the dog he has named Shiloh, Marty cares for the dog himself and eventually ends up working to buy Shiloh from Judd. Throughout this story, the character of eleven-year-old Marty goes through a metamorphosis as he develops from innocence to maturity with an understanding that life is not always just, and adult responsibility is complicated. At the beginning of the story, Marty is just an ordinary child enjoying a summer of frolicking in the hills of West Virginia with his .22 rifle. His moral development begins when he sees Shiloh for the first time and realizes he has been abused because of the dog's reluctant and almost fearful nature. After Marty decides to keep Shiloh, his internal conflicts begin when first he is forced to deal with the issue of legality versus morality. He knows that Shiloh legally belongs to Judd; however, Marty knows that the dog will end up being starved or even killed if he returns to his owner. Secondly, Marty feels anxious for deceiving his family. He has kept Shiloh a secret, and he has used food to feed Shiloh that the family needs. Marty feels great remorse for the pitiful impression he gives others of his family as he asks Mrs. Howard for extra cookies and Mr. Howard for scraps of cheese; however, he feels Shiloh's well-being is worth his family's reputation for being poor. The last "internal conflict" that Marty wrestles with is the issue of whether the dog is worth the hard labor Marty has to give to Judd in order to keep Shiloh. Judd Travers makes him slave away, almost unfairly, to win the legal rights of the dog. Throughout this novel, Marty learns the value of responsibility and all that it entails along with the costs of doing what is morally right. Jeanne Harms and Lucille Lettow propose that, ".. dialoguing with oneself the reader brings different inner audiences into the reading experience, thus expanding the possibilities for creating meaning" (Harms 210). By analyzing Marty's character development, it is evident to the reader that these "internal voices" cause the protagonist to become a strong and successful character, and therefore by reading this book, the reader deals with the "inner voices" along with Marty. This novel forces the reader, child or adult, to battle out similar situations and, in effect, gain far more from the book than just a simple moral. This in turn, causes readers to grow personally by relating to the situations of conflict such as lying to family or doing what is right versus what is legal. By dialoguing with oneself the reader brings different inner audiences into the reading experience (Harms 210). Marty's "internal conflict" is the driving force behind his character development