Walk Two Moons (Newbery Medal Book) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "GRAMPS SAYS THAT I AM A COUNTRY GIRL AT HEART, and that is true..." (more)
Key Phrases: blackberry kiss, potential lunatic, Mary Lou, Sergeant Bickle, Beth Ann (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother has disappeared. While tracing her steps on a car trip from Ohio to Idaho with her grandparents, Salamanca tells a story to pass the time about a friend named Phoebe Winterbottom whose mother vanished and who received secret messages after her disappearance. One of them read, "Don't judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins." Despite her father's warning that she is "fishing in the air," Salamanca hopes to bring her home. By drawing strength from her Native American ancestry, she is able to face the truth about her mother. Walk Two Moons won the 1995 Newbery Medal.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-An engaging story of love and loss, told with humor and suspense. Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle's mother leaves home suddenly on a spiritual quest, vowing to return, but can't keep her promise. The girl and her father leave their farm in Kentucky and move to Ohio, where Sal meets Phoebe Winterbottom, also 13. While Sal accompanies her eccentric grandparents on a six-day drive to Idaho to retrace her mother's route, she entertains them with the tale of Phoebe, whose mother has also left home. While this story-within-a-story is a potentially difficult device, in the hands of this capable author it works well to create suspense, keep readers' interest, and draw parallels between the situations and reactions of the two girls. Sal's emotional journey through the grieving process-from denial to anger and finally to acceptance-is depicted realistically and with feeling. Indeed, her initial confusion and repression of the truth are mirrored in the book. Overall, a richly layered novel about real and metaphorical journeys.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (May 19, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060233346
• ISBN-13: 978-0060233341
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (731 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #583,230 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another piece of advice: Don't judge a book by its cover, March 7, 2004

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Walk Two Moons (Paperback)

I wasn't paying attention to the Newbery debates the year "Walk Two Moons" won. In my own humble opinion, after reading this book, I can't imagine how any other was even seriously considered a contender. "Walk Two Moons" is a book as infinitely wise as it is funny. The rare book that can serve up a rousing good story while teaching you a little about the very nature of life, death, loving and grieving. This is a book ostensibly written for children but so incredibly mature that after finishing it you just sit staring at the picture of author Sharon Creech on the book flap thinking over and over in your head, "How did she do it? How did she do it? How did she do it?"

"Walk Two Moons" follows the tales and travels of Salamanca (Sal) Tree Hiddle. Traveling with her parents to Idaho in the hopes of bringing her mother back with her, the juggles two storylines simultaneously. On the one hand, we have Sal, trying to deal with the fact that her mother left her. On the other is Sal's story of her friend Pheobe who's own mother up and left her family one day. While dealing with the painfully realistic reactions children have to such departures on the part of their parents, it also gives us glimpses into families that are rock solid in their love and devotion. You have Sal's grandparents that are taking the trip to Idaho with her. As you learn more about them, you realize how wonderful and tragic their life has been, with a deep abiding love. Also, Sal's friend Mary Lou's family is a rambunctious crew of crazy wonderful people, always messy and always affectionate.

Just describing the plot of this book really doesn't do it any justice. There are just so many things to admire about it. Through her narrator Creech somehow is able to convey a wisdom that goes beyond Sal's own understandings and words. Moreover, though Sal is perhaps one of the sanest people in this story, she is also an incredibly unreliable narrator. I admit, the ending caught me completely off guard. I should have seen it coming, and I didn't. This is the kind of book where you have to read it all the way through once, and then read it all the way through a second time just to pick up all the tiny clues you missed the first time. Along the way, everything from the heart of life to the despair of death is explored carefully and respectfully. Creech is able to repeatedly bring up the motif of "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins", without ever becoming preachy or didactic. How does she do it? How is this amazing author able to tie every little metaphor and plot point up so perfectly by the book's end?

Critics of the book like to dismiss it for a variety of sins. They claim it hasn't any strong female characters. Apparently Mary Lou's working mom doesn't count. Nor Pheobe's neighbor, a woman who had to deal with the death of her husband and blindness of her mother all on her own. Nor, for that matter, Sal herself. An amazingly capable young woman who is not perfect, but contains all the qualities of a person learning what life is all about. Critics also claim the book is dull. Sorry, folks. It ain't. The book does not suffer from pages of descriptive passages. The characters speak with zing and verve. The plot is fascinating.

I have only ever read two Newbery winners that I truly felt were some of the best children's books ever written. The first was Louis Sacher's "Holes". The second was Sharon Creech's "Walk Two Moons". If you ever read two books intended for kids, I suggest you pick these two without hesitation. Generations from now they will remain the most beloved of this day and age.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book for Readers Willing to Go Where it Takes Them, August 15, 2001

By	kelzbelz (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Walk Two Moons (Paperback)

This book is a beautiful story about an amazing girl. It is a multitude of stories woven into one another. The first time I read this book I was thirteen and I laughed and cried as I read it. Now I am sixteen and I read the book again recently. It didn't hit me as hard, but it still moved me. You don't have to have tragedy going on in your life to understand Salamanca (the main character), especially if you're just starting your teen years. You see, Walk Two Moons is about growing up. It's about leaving the fairy world that you live in and beginning to understand things about the world that are difficult to accept. Salamanca is being forced out of the safety, and blind contentment of childhood. We all go through it. For her, it was the disappearance of her mother. Maybe for us it was something smaller and more trivial. Either way, the idea is the same.

It's a very real story. It doesn't paint women as people who always do right and are perfect. I'm glad it doesn't! Sharon Creech has created some fascinating, wonderfully flawed women who have made mistakes, and experienced hard times, but are still good people. And Salamanca Tree Hiddle, our main character, is a truly insipiring, intelligent, interesting, and amazing girl. Reading this a sixteen year old I realized what a well written, engaging story Walk Two Moons is. However, at a younger age, the story did something more meaningful. It made me realize that there were people out ther feeling, on some level, the things that I was feeling. I recommend this for 12, 13, 14 year olds. It may mean the most to them. But it is a terrific story, and I'm sure entertaining for people of many ages.

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Mother/Daughter reading!, December 30, 1999

By A Customer

My older daughter and I read this book together when she was 11, having rescued it from a cousin's dusty bookshelf. We both fell in love with the characters from the start, and were completely drawn into the story of Salamanca and her family. The story delves sensitively into the life of a thirteen year old girl to whom all girls will relate in one way or another. As a mother, it also made me cherish even more the wonderful/mysterious relationship I have with my daughter. Two years later, we still talk about this book and how much we both enjoyed it, and even re-read certain passages to each other on occasion. We have also mutually devoured anything else we can find written by Ms. Creech, including "Chasing Redbird" and "Bloomabilities," in which the author has interwoven tidbits from "Walk Two Moons" that leave the reader feeling deliciously connected. Yes, Ms. Creech's tales do have sad themes, although bittersweet might be a better adjective. I am especially appreciative that her writing does not contain unecessary themes or inappropriate imagery as is often found in novels for young teens. My daughter and I heartily reccommend this book!