Other editions of book Shiloh

Eleven-year-old Marty Preston loves to spend time up in the hills behind his home near Friendly, West Virginia. Sometimes he takes his .22 rifle to see what he can shoot, like some cans lined up on a rail fence. Other times he goes up early in the morning just to sit and watch the fox and deer. But one summer Sunday, Marty comes across something different on the road just past the old Shiloh schoolhouses -- a young beagle -- and the trouble begins. What do you do when a dog you suspect is being mistreated runs away and comes to you? When it is someone else's dog? When the man who owns him has a gun? This is Marty's problem, and he finds it is one he has to face alone. When his solution gets too big for him to handle, things become more frightening still. Marty puts his courage on the line, and discovers in the process that it is not always easy to separate right from wrong. Sometimes, however, you do almost anything to save a dog.

Set in the hills of rural West Virginia, this is the story of 11-year-old Marty Preston and the dog he sets out to rescue from its abusive owner. Although Marty knows better than to do battle with the foul-tempered Judd Travers, he is unable to stop himself when he discovers that the gentle but frightened beagle he found roaming in the woods has run away from Judd. Although Marty initially returns the dog, he is unable to do so when the dog escapes from him a second time and returns to Marty's gentle care. Knowing that his parents will send the dog right back, Marty builds a pen for his new pet, whom he names Shiloh, and secretly cares for him--hoping, in the meantime, to raise enough money to buy the dog from Judd. However, caring for Shiloh means lying to his friends and family, a situation that causes Marty great pain. A study of human nature, sacrifice, ethics, and the eternal bond between boy and dog, Shiloh won the 1992 Newbery Medal.