Krithi Ram-Junnarkar: Grade 7

Reading Shiloh, younger kids will fall in love with this heartwarming book by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

Those who have dogs know that their pet has a special place in their heart. Marty, an eleven-year-old from West Virginia, loves his dog, but the one problem is: it’s not his.

One day, as Marty was strolling around town, he noticed a small beagle following him. Marty whistled for him and took him home, but his parents would not let him keep the dog. He secretly named him Shiloh, after the old church near where he found him. Marty’s dad insisted that he take the dog back to his owner, the nasty, cruel Judd Travers. When Shiloh ran away a second time, however, Marty was unwilling to part with him. He hid him in the backyard, built him a pen, and bought Shiloh food with his own money. But in a small town like Marty’s, secrets are always discovered. Then, in the night, something horrible happens, and Shiloh is hurt.

Will Marty ever be able to confess to Judd Travers and get Shiloh for his own?

Everybody who reads this tale of a boy and a dog will enjoy it. The everlasting motifs of friendship, love, and loyalty play throughout the book as Marty fights for Shiloh.