Walk Two Moons

Walk Two Moons is a novel written by Sharon Creech, published by HarperCollins in 1994 and winner of the 1995 Newbery Medal.[1] The novel was originally intended as a follow-up to Creech's previous novel Absolutely Normal Chaos; but, the idea was changed after she began writing it.[2]

Walk Two Moons
First edition
AuthorSharon Creech
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult fiction
Publication date
June 12, 1994
Media typePrint (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages185 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN0-06-023334-6
LC ClassPZ7.C8615 Wal 1994

Plot

The novel is narrated by a 13-year-old girl named Salamanca (Sal). Sal's mother has recently left Sal's father, and Sal's grandparents are taking her on a cross-country road trip to Lewiston, Idaho to see her mother. Sal loves nature and was very close to her mother before she left. On the trip, Sal entertains her grandparents by telling a story about her friend in Euclid, Ohio, Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother suddenly disappeared and left their family too, and about Ben Finney with whom Sal begins a tight relationship. Throughout the book, as Sal's story unfolds and their car travels west, she reveals more details about Phoebe, and why her story reminds Salamanca of her own. The more she tells her grandparents of Phoebe's story, the more she feels like her story is less connected to Phoebe's story.

Themes

The major themes in the story include the development of new relationships, dealing with grief, love, death,[3] cultural identity,[4] women's roles as mothers and wives,[5] the hardships of life, and the adventures of misunderstandings and coming to terms with reality. In 1997, it also won the Literaturhaus Award, Austria, and the Newbery Award. Creech drew on her background for many of the book's themes and images, including Sal's love of nature, her relationship with her mother, and the road trip to Idaho that frames the narrative.[6] In an interview, Creech said that she found the aphorism that gives the book its title ("Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins") in a fortune cookie.[2][7]

Awards

In 1995, Walk Two Moons won the Newbery Medal, the United Kingdom Reading Association Award, and the United Kingdom's Children's Book Award. In 1996, it received the WH Smith Mind-Boggling Book Award. In 1997 Austria, and the Young Adult Sequoyah Award.[2]

References
  1. "1995 Newbery Medal and Honor Books". American Library Association. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  2. "Walk Two Moons". Author's Website. Archived from the original on 2010-10-12. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  3. "The 1990s Newbery Medal Winners: Walk Two Moons: Major Themes". Cliffs Notes. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  4. "Walk Two Moons". The Newbery Project. 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  5. "EBMA's Top 100 Authors: Sharon Creech". Educational Book & Media Association. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  6. "Sharon Creech Interview Transcript". Retrieved 2011-04-27.
Awards
Preceded by
The Giver		 Newbery Medal recipient
1995		 Succeeded by
The Midwife's Apprentice
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