Walk Two Moons

Creech, Sharon, Walk Two Moons, HarperCollins, 1994, 280 pgs

Summary: Never judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins. Sal’s grandparents are taking her on a journey to see her mother. They are visiting every place across the country that Sal received a postcard from her mother when her mother traveled to Idaho. Sadly Sal’s mother will never come back because of a tragic bus accident. Along the way, to keep her mind off the road and the fear of dying in a car accident, Sal tells her grandparents the story of Phoebe. Phoebe is Sal’s paranoid friend who is convinced that her neighbor is a serial killer, that her mother is running away, and that this mysteries boy is leaving messages at her house and plans to kill her and her family. Throughout the whole book and the road trip, we learn about Sal’s relationship with her father and her mother as well as the story of Phoebe. As they get closer to the grave of her mother, Sal’s grandmother suffers a stroke and is hospitalized so Sal must make the final trip to the resting place of her mother. She does indeed walked two moons in her mother’s moccasins.

Evaluation: In my opinion this is a well written story of adapting to new places, and learning how to carry on after tragedy. This story is full of understandable situations from your first kiss to school and family. The book is well written and full of humorous moments to help the reader digest the serious issues. I would recommend this book to just about any reader. It might be tough to sell this book to boys, but girls will grab onto this book quick.

Annotation: What do a potential murderer, a serial killer, a road trip, blackberry kisses, a snake bite, and a grave site have in common?

Significance of Book: This book was significant because of the tragedy of the death of the main characters mother. Dealing with a loss such as this is tough to write about and Creech does it very well.

Genre/subject: fiction, families, relationships, losing a loved one

Awards:

National:

• ALA Notable Children's Books: 1995
• Newbery Medal: 1995

Why I selected the book: I love Sharon Creech and wanted to read and review what I believe to be a classic in young literature.

Price: $17.51