Walk Two Moons
by
Sharon Creech
Summary:
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech is about a thirteen-year-old girl, Salamanca Tree Hiddle, who is trying to find her missing mother. Salamanca’s mother left her family in order to find herself and never returned. After her mother is gone for a year, Sal and her father leave their farm in Bybanks, Kentucky and move to Euclid, Ohio when her father finds a new job thanks to Mrs. Margaret Cadaver. Sal does not like anything about Ohio including Mrs. Margaret Cadaver. Sal and her Gram and Gramps embark on a trip from Ohio to Idaho in hopes of finding Sal's mom, Sugar. As they travel, her grandparents ask Sal to tell them a story. She tells her grandparents about her new friend, Phoebe Winterbottom, and her family. Phoebe's mother also mysteriously vanished, but after her disappearance, strange anonymous messages began appearing on the family’s porch. As she tells her story Sal begins to think about her own family's history, including her mother's mysterious trip to find herself in Idaho. Will Sal find her long lost mother or something else instead?
Evaluation:
The plot is semi complicated due to the three stories intertwined with each other. The reader really has to pay attention to whose story they are reading and follow them all. They also have to make parallels between the stories in order to truly understand what is going on in Sal's life and head. But, in the end Creech ties all the stories together in one twist and does not leave any loose ends for the reader.
I really like the female characters in this book. They are all flawed in one way or another but very strong women and intricate characters. For example, Pheobe's neighbor, a women who had to deal with the death of her husband and blind mother all by herself. Pheobe who is my favorite character in the book because she is so funny and quirky with her strange obsession with cholesterol and belief that everyone she meets is a lunatic. Or Gram, who has to help Sal find herself while dealing with her own loss of her daughter. Then there is Sal herself. An amazing and capable preteen who is trying to learn what life and death is all about. Having the main protagonist be a 13 year old girl also makes the story very relatable to her target audience. Sal is smart, interesting, inspiring, flawed, and exhibits many of the same feelings that preteens go through on their journey into adulthood. In essence it is a story about growing up and working through the difficult aspects of the changing world around them. Sal is forced to move to a new state and grow up all at the same time after her mother disappears. Though some readers might not have such a big tragedy happen in their life the world around them is still changing and they have to adapt to it.
The story is told from first person point of view through Sal herself. But, Creech is still able to communicate a wisdom that goes beyond Sal's own understandings and words. Sal also is very truthful even though sometimes it puts herself in a bad light. That said, Sal is an unreliable narrator because there is a lot that she does not tell you according to her stage in the grieving process. With all the subtle hints along the way the reader is sure to miss them the first time around so reading it twice is highly suggested.
All in all this is a must read for anyone 8 years and up. The characters are wonderful and perfectly flawed, the story line was engaging, and the ending offered closure without confusion. This is the perfect coming-of-age book that teaches readers young and old, "don't judge a man until you walked two moons in his moccasins."
Classroom Extension activities:
Social Studies
- When Sal and her grandparents stop at Injun Joe's Peace Palace Motel, Sal ponders the use of the term Indian vs. Native American. Sal's mom, Sugar, preferred the term Indian, but when Sal asks a man at Pipestone if he is a Native American he says, "No, I'm a person." When she inquires further he says that he is an "American Indian person." This part of the book would be good for the exploration of the issue of stereotyping versus historical cultural facts on Native Americans. Students can debate the use of Native American icons as sports mascots by writing a persuasive essay or creating a PowerPoint presentation.
Language Arts
- have students explore point of view using the characters from the book. Students could retell the story from the point of view of one of the other characters in the novel. For example, how would Phoebe's mom or Mike have told the story? Another interesting assignment could a project on character development.
- Using the famous quote from the book, “Never judge a man before you've walked two moons in his moccasins,” as a starting point students could choose a character for and complete a character sketch. Students would be required to describe the physical appearance and emotional needs or wants of the character of their choice, and connect these traits to the story's plot. This will help them understand the elements of a character’s development through his/her words, actions, narrator's description, interaction with other characters, how motivations are revealed, character traits and motivations, stereotypes, relationships between character and plot development. Students would then share their character sketch with the class.
- As a culminating activity, students should write a letter to the author about what they liked the most about the novel. The author, Sharon Creech, will write a letter back in response to the students giving them a personal connection with the book.
