Cynthia Rylant and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
© Sue Reichard
Cynthia was born in 1954 in Hopewell, Va. Her parents separated when she was young and her mother took Cynthia to live with her grandparents in Cool Ridge, W. Va. She lived there while her mother attended nursing school. She lived there until she was eight years old. The home was in a remote corner of Appalachia and had no electricity or running water. They also did not own a car, so Cynthia never travelled very far from home. She and her mother later moved to their own home in Beaver, W. Va.
Cynthia went to college at the University of Charlestown and later completed her Master's Degree in English at Marshall University. After college, she got a job working in the children's section of a public library. Cynthia became a professional librarian and completed her master of library science degree at Kent State University in Ohio.
Cynthia Rylant writes about the Applachia of her youth. Integrity, family pride and life in spite of hardships are the subjects of her books.
Cynthia Rylant hopes her books alter our hearts. Some of her books are:
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Missing May, A Newbery winner
When I Was Young in the Mountains
The Relatives Came
But, I'll Be Back Again
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written over 80 books for children and young people. One of the books, "Shiloh," was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1992, was named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association and was also Young Adult Choice by the International Reading Association. She has since written two sequels to make a trilogy. These books are "Shiloh Season" and "Saving Shiloh."
Phyllis R. Naylor was born Jan. 4, 1933, in Anderson, Ind. Her parents were very religious with conservative midwestern values. Her family moved many times when she was young and she considers no single place home.
She grew up during the Depression, but she never thought of herself as being poor because they owned many good books. Her parents read to their children daily until the children were "old enough to date."
Phyllis first began writing for a church paper. In 1951, she married. After graduating from Joliet Jr. College, she moved to Chicago with her husband. This marriage ended in divorce and she remarried Rex Naylor in 1960.
Naylor gets her ideas from things that happen to her or from things she has read. "Shiloh" was inspired by a little abused dog she and her husband found in W. Va. The little dog haunted her so much she had to write a story about him to get it out of her mind.
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