Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's lives her characters

Although author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor never writes about people in her own life, they often form the spark for a fictional character. She has to fully inhabit each character she writes about.

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Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Fiction

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Naylor writes primarily for children and young adults — although she has published several books for adults, including How I Came to Be a Writer, a wry and very personal look at the ups and downs of one writer’s life. Naylor is perhaps best known as the author of Shiloh, a story about a West Virginia boy and an abused dog. The book won the Newbery Medal in 1991 and has been discovered — and cherished — by new generations of young readers.