Shiloh

Naylor, P.R. (1991).  Shiloh.  New York: Atheneum.

This book is a Bluebonnet Award Winner.  It also won the John Newbery Medal in1991.

Marty Preston, 11, liked to shoot at cans in the woods behind his home in Freindly, West Virginia.  One day he found a sweet little beagle.  He knew that the beagle belonged to a neighbor who raised hunting dogs that he used to hunt illegally.  The owner, Judd Travers, treated his dogs very badly and this dog ran away from him.  The beagle followed Marty home.  Marty hid the dog in a shack in the woods to hide him from his family and the real owner.  One night a neighbor's German Shepherd gets into Shiloh's pen and tears into him.  Shiloh is barely alive and Marty and his father take him to the Doctor in town.  He sews up the cuts and brings him to Marty to help him heal.  Judd Travers finds out that Marty has his dog and demands him back but when he sees him he says that he isn't good for anything.  Marty offers to work for Judd to pay for the dog and Judd agrees thinking he won't ever be the same again.  Marty works off the money and Judd sees that Shiloh has healed, he demands the dog back.  Marty works twenty hours for Judd, backbreaking work, and he finally allows him to keep the dog.

I had a lot of feelings about this book.  Having a dog as a child meant a lot to my brothers, but most of their dogs were mean.  I would have loved having a dog like Shiloh as a young girl.  That's why my children had dogs that they could play with.