Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Books In Order

Publication Order of Alice McKinley Books

Publication Order of Alice Prequel Books

Publication Order of Bessledorf Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Boy/Girl Battle Books

Publication Order of Cat Pack Books

Publication Order of Emily Books

Publication Order of Roxie and the Hooligans Books

Publication Order of Shiloh Books

Publication Order of Simply Sarah Books

Publication Order of Witch Saga Books

Publication Order of York Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

She was born on January 4, 1933 in Anderson, Indiana. She grew up in a family that was very religious and had conservative values. Her father worked as a salesman and so the family moved around during her childhood a lot. Naylor also grew up during the Great Depression and like many families, hers did not have much money at the time. However, she never felt that they were poor due to the fact that the family had quality books. Her mother would read to the kids and their father would also.

When Phyllis was in the fifth grade, her favorite thing to do was write books. She would go home from school every day as quickly as she could to try and jot down the plot that she had been thinking about. When she was sixteen years old, the first story she ever wrote found a place in print published in the church magazine locally. The church had asked her to write it and paid her $4.67 for writing her short story “Mike’s Hero”. Her favorite book when she was younger was Huckleberry Finn. She chose to keep submitting to youthful magazines like Jack and Jill and Seventeen, getting rejection letters in the mail for two years.

She attended Joliet Township High School and graduated, and attended and graduated from Joliet Junior College. She got married when she was just 18 and they decided to move to Chicago. There she worked at a university hospital as a clinical secretary. Later she would notice that her husband was displaying signs of mental illness, so she decided to try and go get him treatment. She would write and work different jobs to help support them, working as an editorial assistant, assistant executive secretary, and teacher. Her spouse would be diagnosed later as having paranoid schizophrenia and they would eventually divorce.

Phyllis would later move to Maryland and settle down there for some time. She studied at American University and graduated with her BA degree in 1963. Before that in 1960 she got married to speech pathologist Rex Naylor. They had first met at church. The couple had two sons together. She was originally going to study psychology and get her Master’s but then chose to become an author on a full time basis. She wrote The Galloping Goat and Other Stories, which came out in 1965 and was her first children’s book.

She was a steady writer and come out with around two books every year. Her book have received great reviews, from the American Library Association recognizing her work to the International Reading Association and the Junior Literary Guild giving her novels attention. Naylor would be awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Night Cry in 1984.

As an adult, Phyllis has not lost her love of books and reading. She’s written books for kids and young people and has published over 100 during the course of her career. One of the novels that she is most known for is Shiloh, published in 1991. Set in West Virginia, the book became famous and won a Newbery Medal in 1992. The American Library Association also named it to be a Notable Children’s Book and the International Reading Association chose it as their young adult choice. The story idea was inspired by the time that she and her husband discovered a poor little dog that had been abused, and she couldn’t get him out of her mind, so she had to write a story about it.

Shiloh earned the author national attention and interest as well as further awards. She won the Sequoyah Children’s Book Award, the William Allen White Children’s Book Award, the Mark Twain Readers Award, and it was made a Notable Children’s Book pick by the ALA. It was also picked in 1999 as a novel recommended for kids 9-12 as part of the Read Across America program. She would write two more installments in this series, Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh. The books were made into movies as well. Shiloh came out in 1996, followed by Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season in 1999 and Saving Shiloh in 2006.

The author has also written other books. She created the Alice series after the popularity of her 1985 novel The Agony of Alice, all about a young girl in the sixth grade doing the best she can while searching for a role model in the absence of a mother. The series follows Alice from a variety of ages and have been praised for showing a regular girl’s life in a realistic way as well as tackling topics about life along the way.

Naylor’s husband Rex passed away in 2012. They had been married for years. He was survived by their sons and grandchildren. Phyllis vows to keep on writing as long as she’s able to. She is a founder of the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. In the course of her career, she was won the Newbery Medal, Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Writers Award, Child Study Award, Kerlan Award, and Foremother Award.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is the author and creator of the Witch Saga. This series started with the publication of the debut novel, Witcher’s SIster, in 1985. The second novel was Witch Water, followed by The Witch Herself, The Witch’s Eye, Witch Weed, and The Witch Returns.

Witch’s Sister is the first book in the Witch Saga by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. In this book, Lynn and Mouse think their neighbor is a witch. Mrs. Tuggle appears to be forcing Judith, Lynn’s sister, to join her and other witches in a coven. But they have no evidence and even their parents do not believe them.

They want to show the neighbor for who she truly is: evil. They’re convinced she’s becoming more threatening. When the parents are going for the weekend and letting Mrs. Tuggle and Judith stay in charge, can they save the family by staying one step ahead of Mrs. Tuggle? Or is her magic going to be too powerful to fight? Read this book to find out!

Witch Water is the second novel in the Witch Saga. Mouse and Lynn still think their neighbor is a witch. They escaped last year, but it turns out she isn’t through with the girls.

With crows following Mouse wherever she goes, the only way they can protect themselves is to find a way to outwit her. Can they do it, or is Mrs. Tuggle planning something too big to outsmart? Read this book to find out!