Summary
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech is a middle-grade novel about a young girl’s search to understand why her mother disappeared. The story features Salamanca "Sal" Tree Hiddle and her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. Sal takes a road trip with her grandparents to trace her missing mother's path. Meanwhile, she recounts Phoebe's experiences with a similar mysterious event. Through the girls’ intertwined stories, Creech explores themes of familial connections, loss, self-discovery, and personal growth along with the nuances of love and grief. Published in 1994, Walk Two Moons continues to move and inspire young readers.
Plot
In Walk Two Moons, 13-year-old Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle narrates multiple intertwined stories. The primary plot follows Sal on a road trip from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents as they aim to trace the route of Sal's mother, who has gone missing. This journey interlinks with Sal’s reflections on her life and her friendship with Phoebe Winterbottom, who experiences her own mysterious events.
Sal hopes to find her mother by her birthday. As the road trip progresses, her grandparents add humor with frequent stops, despite Gram's encounter with danger from a snake bite. The travel locations, including Lake Michigan and Old Faithful, serve as the backdrop for stories about the sudden disappearance of Phoebe’s mother, a tragedy with chilling parallels to Sal’s life.
As their journey concludes and Gram’s health declines, Sal undertakes a solo drive to Lewiston. There, she learns of her mother’s death in a bus accident. Margaret Cadaver, initially viewed with suspicion, is revealed as the lone survivor connected to Sal's mother and helps Sal accept her loss.
Back home, Sal finds solace with her father and anticipates rekindling relationships, marking Sal's personal growth and newfound understanding.
Characters
Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle: The protagonist and narrator, a 13-year-old Native American girl navigating adolescence while dealing with her mother's absence. Sal’s road trip with her grandparents is a quest for understanding, reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace.
Phoebe Winterbottom: Sal's best friend in Ohio, Phoebe values order and dramatizes events. Her tendency to exaggerate stems from her insecurities and her mother's sudden disappearance. This mirrors Sal's own experiences.
Gram and Gramps Hiddle: Sal's grandparents accompany her to Idaho. Their trip expresses familial love and resilience, adding warmth to Sal's adventure despite their own personal losses.
Chanhassen “Sugar” Pickford Hiddle: Sal’s mother, who is remembered for her joy and love of nature. Her departure prompts Sal's journey to understand why she left, focusing on themes of abandonment and familial love.
Margaret Cadaver: A friend of Sal’s father, Margaret has experienced loss and trauma. Sal initially feels unsettled by Margaret due to her mysterious nature. Her kindness becomes evident, and Margaret plays a role in Sal's healing and acceptance.
Ben Finney: Sal's classmate and romantic interest. Ben provides humor and artistic support.
Norma Winterbottom: Phoebe's mother, who embarked on a journey of self-discovery with a tragic outcome.
Mrs. Partridge: Margaret’s blind mother, who contributes a unique element to the narrative.
Themes
Empathy
Reinforced in its title, the novel’s principal message is to “walk two moons in someone else's moccasins,” encouraging characters to understand others' experiences. Sal seeks to make sense of the feelings and choices that led to the disappearance of both her mother and Phoebe's mother. Her road trip with her grandparents retraces her mother's final steps, aiming to experience what her mother might have felt.
Loss and grief
Grief is a constant presence in Sal's journey, representing the void left by her mother's absence. Her acceptance of her mother’s death leads to an understanding that joy can coexist with loss. This signifies her move towards healing, acceptance, and independence.
The power of stories
Storytelling serves as a key mechanism for Sal to process her feelings of loss. By recounting Phoebe’s tale to her grandparents, she also explores her own story. This shows that narratives help reconcile past and present, emphasizing the power of sharing and listening to stories.
Literary structure highlights
Dual narrative
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech features two interwoven narratives. The primary narrative follows Sal's road trip with her grandparents. The secondary narrative emerges as Sal recounts stories about her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. The dual structure deepens the plot and draws thematic parallels between their experiences. This approach explores their interconnected journeys.
Symbolism and motifs
Creech employs symbolism with recurring elements. Blackberries represent Sal's connection to her mother and her healing process. The singing tree serves as a motif related to Sal's mother. Sal imagines the tree's songs as a form of communication with her late mother.
Foreshadowing
Walk Two Moons incorporates foreshadowing, particularly through mysterious notes left on Phoebe's doorstep. With messages such as, “Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins,” these notes foreshadow Sal’s introspective journey while underscoring the novel’s themes of empathy and self-realization.
These literary elements enhance the novel's exploration of themes like grief, familial bonds, and self-discovery.
Awards
Walk Two Moons won the prestigious Newbery Medal in 1995. That same year, it also earned the UK Children's Book Award and the UK Reading Association Award.
Quick facts
Sharon Creech was inspired to write Walk Two Moons by a fortune cookie message.
Creech chose the book’s title to emphasize the theme of understanding others by walking in their shoes.
The novel originally began as a follow-up to Creech's earlier book, Absolutely Normal Chaos.
Walk Two Moons won the 1995 Newbery Medal.
The story follows 13-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle who undertakes a transformative road trip to retrace her mother's steps.
Walk Two Moons integrates multiple timelines and uses a story-within-a-story structure.
Sal's personal journey explores themes of grief, family dynamics, empathy, and identity.
Character Phoebe Winterbottom represents drama and mystery, significantly influencing Sal's emotional growth.
Natural elements and recurring symbols, like blackberries and singing trees, reinforce the storyline.
While the novel has been widely praised, some critics noted its stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans.
About the author
Sharon Creech (1945-) is an author known for her award-winning books for young readers. Her debut middle grade novel, Absolutely Normal Chaos, was inspired by her experiences growing up in a rowdy family in South Euclid, Ohio. She found inspiration for its follow-up in a fortune cookie message, “Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” The result, Walk Two Moons, following a 13-year-old girl’s search for her missing mother, was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1995.
Before launching her successful career as a children’s book author, Creech spent several years living in England and Switzerland, where she taught high school English and wrote two novels for adults. She has gone on to write numerous middle-grade novels, including Pleasing the Ghost, Chasing Redbird, Bloomability, The Wanderer, Fishing in the Air, The Castle Corona, The Great Unexpected, and The Boy on the Porch. Creech has two grown children and lives in Maine with her husband.
