murky moral choices in conflicts of everyday life. In her favorable review of Shiloh, Betsy Hearne of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books wrote that "readers will be absorbed by the suspenseful plot, which will leave them with some memorable characterizations as well as several intriguing ethical questions". K.B. Cartwright of The Reading Teacher also praised the novel for providing a "gripping account of family conflict and honesty". In a similarly positive review, Kirkus Reviews praised the book for being a "gripping account of a mountain boy's love for a dog he's hiding from its owner". Calling it "unusually warm and moving", Heather Vogel Frederick of The Christian Science Monitor praised the novel for being an "excellent choice as a family read-aloud". Censors have objected to the profanity in Shiloh. Naylor received an angry letter from the parents of a 10-year-old boy, who were angered by the language in the book. The character Judd had sworn, "dammit". The author replied in an interview with The Virginian-Pilot that some people in the world "speak crudely" and "you can't put your child in a glass bubble and protect him always". Several West Virginian book reviewers have complained about the dialect in the novel, believing that West Virginians do not speak with a dialect. In one review, a newspaper writer said that when she read the book to her children, she chose not to read with the dialect. Honors In 1992, Shiloh received the John Newbery Medal. The annual award, bestowed by the children's librarians division of the American Library Association, is given for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". Shiloh was a dark horse for the award. Ohio State University Professor Rudine Sims Bishop, a member of the 1992 Newbery committee, said in an interview that Shiloh was a "sleeper" that surfaced as a serious contender deep in their debate. After the January 27, 1992 announcement of Shilohs winning the Newbery Medal, Naylor was flooded with numerous phone calls, requests for interviews, and mail. In an April 1992 interview, Naylor said: "Frankly, to go the bathroom, I have had to take the phone off the hook." The book was also selected as an American Library Association Notable Children's Book. In January 1994, over 60,000 third–sixth graders in the state of Oklahoma selected from Shiloh 23 nominees as the winner of the Sequoyah Children's Book Award. The Sequoyah