Naylor's fiction usually features young people who face adverse situations and inner fears to find personal strength and grow toward maturity. Addressing moral, religious, psychological, and family issues, she writes about such subjects as mental and physical illness, loss of faith, crib death, war, and sex; consequently, some of her books have been regarded as controversial. Although she often writes about the difficulties of living, Naylor presents young readers with a positive, optimistic view of life and a philosophy that stresses acceptance of both self and others.
Praised for her acute observations of human nature as well as for her sympathetic understanding of the young, Naylor is noted for her appealing characterizations, nondidactic approach, and evocation of place. Although initially her prose was often considered crisp but pedestrian, she is now regarded as a craftsmanlike writer with a distinctive voice. In Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, John D. Stahl commented, "From comedy to tragedy, from books for younger children to books for older young adults, in novels with rural settings or urban landscapes, from fantasy to realism, she reveals a fine sense of the unexpected difficulties and rewards of life." The critic concluded, "Symptomatic of Naylor's vision is her willingness to present religious, ethical, and psychological issues without a hidden--or, for that matter, obvious--agenda, but simply with honesty and sensitivity." And Deborah Stevenson of Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books wrote that Naylor is "still one of our best writers of everyday junior-high life."
Naylor has often included autobiographical elements in her works.
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