Which Phyllis Reynolds Naylor novel won the 1992 Newbery Medal? The answer is Shiloh.
Published by Atheneum, Shiloh centers on Marty Preston, a boy in West Virginia who discovers an abused beagle and secretly tries to protect him from his owner. Marty names the dog Shiloh, after the nearby place where he finds him, and soon faces difficult questions about honesty, responsibility, and animal cruelty.
The novel’s conflict is more complicated than a simple rescue story. Marty wants to save Shiloh, but hiding the dog from his family forces him to lie, steal, and confront the consequences of his choices. The book’s emotional power comes from showing that compassion does not eliminate the need for accountability.
A frequent mix-up is with Saving Shiloh, the second book in the series, or with Night Cry and The Agony of Alice, other Naylor titles. The 1992 Newbery Medal recognized the original Shiloh, not one of its sequels.