The Phillis Reynolds Naylor Value Collection : Shiloh; Saving Shiloh; Shiloh Season

Rating:
Summary: "The Moral Maturing of Marty Preston"
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, "By 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

Rating:
Summary: "The Moral Maturing of Marty Preston"
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, "By 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