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Book Review: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Title: Walk Two Moons

Author: Sharon Creech

Genre: Contemporary, Middle Grade

Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: First published in 1994
Paperback: 288 pages

As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe’s outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold — the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

In her own award-winning style, Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

How did I get this book: Bought

Why did I read this book: I’ve had Sharon Creech’s books on my radar for a while now and then last week we got an email from HC letting us know that some of her books were selling at $1.99. These emails always work: I bought Walk Two Moons immediately as I had heard wonderful things about this award-winner.

Review:

“Never judge a man before you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.”

Salamanca “Sal” Tree Hiddle is travelling with her grandparents on a cross-country trip to Lewiston, Idaho, where Sal hopes to get to in time for her mother’s birthday. “Hope” is in fact, something present at the core of Sal’s narrative and at the core of this trip: Sal hopes more than anything, to be able to bring her mother – who had recently left Sal and her father – back home.

Sal spins her yarn and tells her grandparents the story of how, after moving away from her adored farm to a place called Euclid in Ohio, she befriends Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother disappears and whose family is trying to find answers.

Over the course of those days on the road, by spinning her yarn, Sal comes to know not only Phoebe better than she did before but also herself, her parents and her grandparents.

Walk Too Moons is really, three stories in one, all of them interconnected in a narrative that is structured brilliantly. Sal is spinning a yarn at the same time that she is unravelling it – is quite clever, really, how the three stories have parallels and how the characters find succour on each other. The road trip is impetus and frame for the beautiful picture that is slowly constructed.

More than anything though, is in its thematic core that its heart can be found. It is in the beautiful exploration of the friendship between Phoebe and Sal, which examines the often complicated nature of friendship where someone can both love and admire but also be deeply irritated by another. It is in the heart-warming dedication to all kinds of love (including first loves and first kisses and oh, blackberries) and its deeply emotional description of loss and death.

That said, my favourite aspect of the novel is the subtle way that Sharon Creech questions assumptions and expectations and how her story is marked by an unobtrusive examination of gender roles – especially those of mothers and wives – and how they can affect the lives of those around them.

This is the done wonderfully in the way how Sal observes Phoebe’s mother before her disappearance and how she is able to eventually build a parallel between the two mothers and how the two daughters have reacted and acted around them.

There is a lot that needs to be left unsaid here as examining the plot very closely would unforgivably spoil it. Suffice it to say that in a way, the narrative and the unspoken truths of the novel reminded me of another very recent – and equally good – novel: Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead.

Walk Too Moons is a beautifully realised book that made me laugh and cry in equal measures and its loveliness is a thing of beauty.

Notable Quotes/ Parts:

A couple of awesome quotes from the novel:

“You can’t keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.”

It seems to me that we can’t explain all the truly awful things in the world like war and murder and brain tumours, and that we can’t fix these things, so we look at the frightening things that are closer to us and we magnify them until they burst open. Inside is something that we can manage, something that isn’t as awful as it had at first seemed. It is a relief to discover that although there might be axe murderers and kidnappers in the world, most people seem a lot like us: sometimes afraid and sometimes brave, sometimes cruel and sometimes kind.

Rating: 8 – Excellent.

Reading Next: The Spark by Susan Jane Bigelow

Buy the Book: (click on the links to purchase)


Ebook available for kindle US, nook, google & sony

20 Comments

  • Linda W
    August 28, 2012 at 6:47 am

    This is one of my favorite middle grade books. And what a bargain at that price! This is one of the novels I examined for my thesis, so I’m glad to read your take on it. 😀

  • Alicia
    August 28, 2012 at 9:45 am

    This is one of those books that I will never forget reading. I read it over and over growing up. My copy is so worn out…but it is an amazing read. 🙂

  • Becca
    August 28, 2012 at 10:50 am

    I remember really liking Walk Two Moons as a kid. Glad to see you enjoyed it too!

  • raych
    August 28, 2012 at 3:00 pm

    Huzza huzza.

  • Anonymous
    August 28, 2012 at 7:26 pm

    This was one of my all time favorite books as a kid…I cried everytime Sal went to see her mom one last time…

  • capillya
    September 1, 2012 at 9:56 am

    Oooh this sounds like it’s going to pull on my heartstrings. Sold.

  • Book Review: The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech | The Book Smugglers
    September 11, 2012 at 5:41 am

    […] did I read this book: I’ve recently read (and loved) my first Sharon Creech book (Walk Two Moons) and have become a […]

  • Anonymous
    September 22, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    :mrgreen: 🙂 😀 😕 😡

  • Lily Parks
    September 27, 2012 at 6:30 pm

    BEST BOOK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😯

  • Rickey Young
    November 22, 2012 at 10:38 pm

    Very good book. I felt so sad at the end of the book because it was so unexpected. Usually there is happy endings but thats what you learn in life i guess. Everything doesn’t end so well in life. RATE: 10 🙂

  • Anonymous
    November 28, 2012 at 8:47 am

    awsome 😯

  • kyla
    January 16, 2013 at 10:39 pm

    i love it very much!!!

  • Anonymous
    February 8, 2013 at 1:22 am

    that is so amazing how u write ur books …… How can u do it so well?
    🙄

  • Anonymous
    February 23, 2013 at 2:03 pm

    i loved this book

  • Anonymous
    October 30, 2013 at 7:39 pm

    OMG THIS BOOK IS AMAZING IF YOU HAVEN’T EVER READ IT YOU SHOULD!

  • Anonymous
    May 17, 2014 at 11:25 am

    I loved this book even though I cried at the end.http://www.thebooksmugglers.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_cry.gif But Everyone likes a good cry.http://www.thebooksmugglers.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif

  • Reilly
    January 13, 2015 at 11:12 am

    Walk Two Moons is written by Sharon Creech. The book Walk Two Moons is an interesting novel because it is really two stories in one. The novel has won the Newbery Medal for its creative elements. The setting of this book is mainly in Bybanks, Kentucky and Euclid, Ohio. The main characters are Sal and Phoebe. The conflict in the story is that Sal’s mother has left Sal and her father. Sal and her father move the Euclid, Ohio in search of her mother. The story starts out with Sal and her grandparents on the road and Sal is telling them about the story of Phoebe. Sal tells Gram and Gramps about the lunatic, and how Mrs. Winterbottom left. Sal goes through the whole trip hoping and hoping to get there by her mother’s birthday. Sal had her doubts, but she kept her head held high. They are starting to get closer. Sal is continuously hearing the wind go “rush, rush, rush.” They drive for miles and miles each day. Sal’s problem is that she wants to find her mother and have the satisfaction of knowing where she is. Finally they reach her. Sal solves her problem after she finds her mother. I believe that the theme of the book is being able to not give up hope. Throughout the book Sal tried hard to stay strong and not give up hope of finding her mother. Walk Two Moons was the perfect length and was very easy to read! One of the things I most like about it was that it wasn’t predictable at all. The ending was the perfect way to sum up all of the intriguing events in the novel. I would definitely recommend this book to another student! This book was a little confusing at times, but overall Walk Two Moons was a fantastic novel!

  • Anonymous
    May 9, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    one of the BEST BOOK IN THE WORLD!!!!

  • Anonymous
    December 6, 2017 at 12:55 am

    what do u mean this book is horrible!

  • matthew
    September 7, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    awesome book

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