Shiloh (Phyllis Reynolds Naylor)

I started listening to this book with the audio book. I loved Marty's voice. I continued on without the audio and his voice continued to ring in my head. I'm not surprised they made this into a movie. It's heart warming and has plenty of exciting moments where I imagined dramatic music beating in the background. Sometimes I'm amazed at how J fiction can draw me in. This book is one of those.

There are some great topics that you could discuss from this book. Doing what's right, animal protection, determination and honesty would be great places to start. Honesty is a big one since Marty has plenty of times he "skims the truth"...all for the good of the dog. I like dogs, but I'm not one that people would say has a big soft spot. I moved a little further to a total dog sell out while reading this book.

This is one well written book. There are no wasted words or long dull descriptive narratives. The balance is perfect and it I think it would easily draw in a reluctant reader. I was visiting with family this past weekend and talked with my six year old niece about books she had been reading. She loves animals and plans to be a vet one day. I told her about Shiloh and she quickly jumped in that it reminded her of The Black Stallion and then went on to describe that story. I love discussing books with kids!

Goodreads summary:

When Marty Preston comes across a young beagle in the hills behind his home, it's love at first sight9 and also big trouble. It turns out the dog, which Marty names Shiloh belongs to Judd Travers who drinks too much and has a gun9 and abuses his dogs. So when Shiloh runs away from Judd to Marty, Marty just has to hide him and protect him from Judd. But Marty's secret becomes too big for him to keep to himself, and it exposes his entire family to Judd's anger. How far will Marty have to go to make Shiloh his?