 The News & Observer 's Elizabeth Ward listed Shiloh as one of the best children 's books in 1991 . She called the book a " heartstopping , but tough @-@ as @-@ steel story of a boy and an abused dog in the hardscrabble hill country of West Virginia " . Author Timothy Morris deemed Shiloh to be the " most celebrated dog novel of the nineties " . Michele Landsberg of Entertainment Weekly called Shiloh a " compelling read " and rated the novel an A. Equating Shiloh to classics like Charlotte 's Web , author Laura Elliott praised the novel 's " voice , suspense , and layer of themes " . 
