Walk Two Moons
By Sharon Creech
This book is about a thirteen year old girl named Salmanca Tree Hiddle or Sal for short. The book starts out with Sal taking a road trip with her eccentric grandparents from Ohio to Idaho. To entertain her grandparents on this long trip Sal tells them a story about a girl named Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother disappeared after Phoebe’s encounter with a potential lunatic. Sal’s story mirrors her own life; Sal’s mother ran way to Idaho. The purpose of the trip, in Sal’s mind, is to get her mother to come back with them
This is a good book so good in fact that it won a Newberry Medal. This medal is awarded to books by the America Library Association distinguished American literature for children. One thing that I loved about this book was that are complex characters. Sometimes I think that children’s books are “dumbed” down for children. These stories contain simple characters and a simple plot. There are children that are dealing with or have experienced a parent leaving. This is a real issue and some children might relate to Sal’s situation and feelings. At the beginning of the book Sal does not come out and inform reader that her mother left instead she reveals this through her story of Phoebe Winterbottom. The flipping between the story of Sal and Phoebe could potentially be confusing for the reader but Sharon Creech does a good job of making it clear at the beginning of the chapter which characters’ story we are reading. This book is both entertaining and touching as Sal makes this trip to see her estranged mother; it definitely provoked some emotion from me which, in my opinion, is a sign of a good book.