That night I kept thinking about Pandora's box. I wondered why someone would put a good thing such as Hope in a box with sickness and kidnapping and murder. It was fortunate that it was there, though. If not, people would have the birds of sadness nesting in their hair all the time, because of nuclear wars and the greenhouse effect and bombs and stabbings and lunatics. There must have been another box with all the good things in it, like sunshine and love and trees and all that. Who had the good fortune to open that one, and was there one bad thing down there in the bottom of the good box? Maybe it was Worry. Even when everything seems fine and good, I worry that something will go wrong and change everything.This quote is from Chapter 27, when Sal reflects on the myth of Pandora, which Phoebe presented that day in class. Creech characterizes herself as possessing an indomitable sense of hope, faith in the power of the human spirit, and openness to inspiration. In Teacher Librarian, she explains that she never knows the direction a book will take when she starts writing. Creech describes writing as a process largely beyond her control and utterly consuming: she crafts the characters' voices, but those "voices" then govern the unfolding of the book. These voices narrate the story to Creech, who, when composing a new book, is likely to become so absorbed in the stories going on in her head that she "put(s) the telephone handset in the refrigerator, or (her) keys in the microwave." Writing is not, however, an easy or glib process. Once finished with the draft of Walk Two Moons, for example, she revised it eleven times. Her extensive revision process often lasts one to three years.Creech cites the phone call from the Newbery Medal Committee in 1995 as a major turning point in her life. She describes living for days afterward "on pins and needles," afraid the committee would call back and tell her they had made a terrible mistake. Indeed, the Newbery Medal has great power to transform an author's life as it guarantees the author to whom it is awarded not only fame, but sales and a long print life for the book in question, even more so than the Pulitzer. However, Creech's award generated controversy. She was an "unknown" in the United States, and some accused the committee of bestowing the award on Walk Two Moons beca use its protagonist is a part Native American girl. Critics dismiss the book for its unlikely plot twists, it’s too-easy message of hope and endurance, and its heavy-handed symbolism. At the same time, Creech stands by her proclivity toward stories of hope and humor, arguing simply that she is suited to telling such stories, while others are better suited to writing more realistic and serious stories. She explains that in writing such stories, she creates and is able to spend time in beautiful places with kind and interesting people. Creech's books offer her and her readers the chance to live in a world of hope and beauty.Salamanca Tree Hiddle is taking a trip with her grandparents from Euclid, Ohio to Lewiston, Idaho, to visit her mother's final resting place. Along the way, Salamanca, or Sal, tells her grandparents the story of her best friend, Phoebe Winter bottom, whose mother, like Sal's, unexpectedly decides to leave home. Sal meets Phoebe when Sal and her father leave their farm in Bybanks, Kentucky, to Euclid, Ohio, where Margaret Cadaver, whom Sal's father befriended after her mother's death, lives. Phoebe is a high-strung, prim, and wildly imaginative girl. She feels certain that some sinister connection exists between the morbidly-named Mrs. Cadaver, who is her next-door neighbor, the mysterious notes that keep appearing on her family's doorstep, and the strange boy, whom Phoebe dubs the lunatic, who appears at the house one day. Sal gradually becomes caught up in her friend's melodrama and finds herself engaged in a heady flirtation with a boy from school, Ben.Walk Two Moons is in fact a collection of individual stories told from a number of different perspectives woven into a coherent narrative: we read not only Sal and Phoebe's stories, but Greek myths, Native American myths, old family stories, and snippets from students' journals. Each story fits into the main narratives and also resonates and amplifies the meaning and substance of other stories. At the same time, each story plays a distinct role in the narrative, demonstrating the power stories have to affect human experience and consciousness. Phoebe uses her story about the lunatic to ward off other, more threatening, explanations of Mrs. Winterbottom's disappearance. Sal uses Phoebe's story as a way to relive her own story and come to a better understanding of it. Gram and Gramp's stories provide Sal with a sense of her own family history and with a model for her own life and loves. The myths interspersed throughout the novel offer both the characters and the readers a means of understanding the origins, state, and implications of the human condition. Sal tells her own story as a means of reflecting on it and coming to accept it.Sal incorporates stories of the past into the present moment of her narrative, sometimes stopping to add a story as a means of explanation, or actually embedding them into the narrative as a journal entry or a memory triggered during the course of the narrative. She tells the story of her mother, which precedes both the primary (the trip across the States) and secondary (the story of Phoebe) narratives of the novel, through these spontaneous or embedded flashes of memory. For example, she writes in her journal about her mother's tree kissing, a tree in the parking lot in South Dakota reminds her of the singing tree in her backyard, and Phoebe's family triggers her memory of the morning her father left flowers on the table for Sal and her mother. Sal's narration of her memories demonstrates that the past will not stay put. The narration bubbles up into the present and drives events and emotions. In fact, as Sal's long journey across the country shows, the present is often nothing more than attempt to relive and understand the past.While the novel centers on a journey of loss and acceptance, it grounds this journey in a series of beautiful natural objects and places. Sal's understanding of her past is inextricably bound to trees, fields, wildberries, and lakes, and during her journey, she passes by Lake Michigan, the Wisconsin Dells, Pipestone National Monument, the Missouri River, the Badlands, the Black Hills, Old Faithful, and the mountains of Montana and Idaho. Both Sal and her grandparents experience moments of companionship, great emotion, and even rapture in the face of these natural phenomena. Sal and all her family members clearly harbor a deep respect and appreciation for nature and understand it as one of the many priceless blessings that life, often cruel and unpredictable, bestows upon us.The messages, postcards, and journal entries embedded in the text ofWalk Two Moons all demonstrate the uncertainty and difficulty involved in interpreting the words of others. Phoebe twists the benign and comical messages left on her doorstep into series of threats or mysterious clues hinting at Mrs. Winterbottom's whereabouts. Mr. Birkway, who argues with his students that ambiguity is one of the greatest beauties of written texts, sees the journals they have written as "brilliant" examples of conflicting emotions, whereas his students see them as embarrassing revelations of their most private thoughts. Sal struggles to interpret the conflicting message of the postcards her mother sends her. Each postcard expresses love for Sal, and yet reminds Sal that her mother needed to leave her to take a long, soul-searching trip. Throughout the novel, Sal becomes more and more skilled at understanding and accepting these ambiguities.Sal notices three singing trees throughout the novel, each of which plays a role in the progression of her narrative. The first is the tree on her farm in Kentucky, a tree that contained a beautiful songbird in its highest branches and seemed to sing on its own. The second is the tree outside the hospital in South Dakota, which triggers her memory of home. The third singing tree is located near her mother's grave in Lewiston, Idaho. The three trees both represent and express Sal's powerful emotional reactions to the natural world, but also respond to her changing emotions: the tree on the farm did not sign on the day she and her father found out that her mother had died. Like blackberries, the singing trees represent the spontaneous and unasked for generosity of the natural world, but they also represent Sal, whose middle name is "Tree." The trees respond to loss and grief—they do not always sing—but they retain their beauty and their ability to express and induce joy.Both Sal's mother and Mrs. Winterbottom cut their hair before or during their journey. Sal's mother, to her husband's chagrin, cuts her long black hair in the kitchen the week before she leaves, and Mrs. Winterbottom cuts hers while she is gone, returning home with a stylish new haircut. Both women cut their hair as part of their attempt to transform themselves. They are casting off their former selves, and perhaps casting off a part of themselves that marks their gender, a part traditionally associated with feminine beauty. To Sal, her mother's hair symbolizes something more complicated. Carefully saved and hidden beneath her floorboards in Bybanks, Kentucky, her mother's hair represents the happiness her mother once knew and lost. Her hair, saved but deeply hidden, reminds Sal of the idealized mother she is beginning to realize never existed.Creech emphaty's style as a source of understanding, and playing the past's intrusion plot into the Present smoothly.
I read Walk Two Moons as part of the "literature circle" for my 6th grade son's class. I went into the read cold, knowing only what was written on the back of the book and the fact that it was a Newberry winner.The basic idea of the story is a teenage girl (Sal) is traveling cross country with her grandparents to try and find her mother. Along the trip they have a few mini-adventures and Sal spends most of the drive-time telling about recent events of her own life as related to a "crazy" friend she had named Phoebe. The title of the book comes from a supposed Indian saying "never judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins." Once that phrase is put out there, it becomes more apparent what the author is doing in this book.The story is very multi-layered. There's the historical story that Sal is telling about her recent past and her interactions with her friends and neighbors, but particularly with her father and the fact that her mom left them to go out west. That narrative thread in itself has multiple layers…the story of Phoebe and her crazy life and the story of Sal and her family and loss. Sal narrates each of these stories and seems unaware of just how parallel her story is to Phoebe's story. Meanwhile, Sal is traveling across the country with her grandparents and many of their interactions along the road area also very insightful into Sal's life story.By having multiple story threads running concurrently, the story arc was able to twist and turn over itself in ways that were obvious while also being thoughtful and not feeling blatant or silly. Still, some of the plot points felt a little heavy handed at times, but generally ok.I found myself going back and forth in terms of my level of enjoyment of this book. There were numerous scenes that pulled at either sad or happy emotions but a lot of the story was a confused sense of exploration. Sal was a fun and funny narrator and made the storytelling compelling but I had a hard time really liking her as a character. I think that was somewhat intentional as she is emotionally a little hardened and withdrawn as a result of recent events. This makes it hard to approach and relate to her, especially since I don't have directly relatable experience. At the same time, I could appreciate and sympathize with her plight and her desire to come to grips with her life.I really liked the way this book played with self exploration through storytelling and narrative. Sal spent the entire book telling stories but what I enjoyed was the fact that she seemed to be learning about herself and uncovering bits of her subconscious without even realizing what she was doing. It wasn't until nearly the end of the book that she seems to come to a sense of awakening to her own emotions and the catharsis that comes in coming face to face with one's self. This is a good, well written read and I definitely feel it deserved the Newberry (granted, I haven't read its competition). The narrative is smooth and flowing and really felt like a good portrayal of a 13 year old girl going through emotional upheaval. In spite of the various predictable elements, there are a number of surprises that can catch you off guard. Add to that the funny anecdotes and witty narrative and you have a good solid book.****3.5 out of 5 stars
What do You think about Walk Two Moons (1996)?
Walk two moonsAuthor: Sharon CreechPublisher: HarperCollinsCopyright: 1994Pages: 288Chapter BookAge: ElementaryThemes: Loss, family, traveling, natureSynopsis: Thirteen year old Salamanca is traveling across the country to Idaho with her grandparents on the same trip her mother took (time period). Along the way she tells stories about how her father made her move from her home in Bybanks, Kentucky to Ohio. Personal Response: I was very pleased after reading Walk two Moons. While reading I could not put the book down, it is unpredictable and interesting and leaves the reader wanting to find out more. The main character, Salamanca alone is an interesting character that is unique, but the reader can also relate to her. My favorite part of the story was her grandparents’ comments along their journey, while Salamanca was telling them her story. Most of their comments were bizarre and funny, but I was thinking something similar. Salamanca’s grandparents also made me think of my own grandparents. Some of the things they did and said I could hear my grandparents say. For example, every time they stopped to sleep Salamanca’s grandfather would say, “This isn’t our married bed, but it will do,” my grandfather would say “this isn’t our home, but at least we’re together.” They also loved to travel and to stop at tourist spots. Another part I really liked was the part when Salamanca finally reached her mother. Up until the chapter before this I did not realize that her mother was actually dead, and she was going to her grave. I believed that her mother was depressed about losing the baby and was at her cousins’ house. This part was very emotional, especially since her grandmother also died. I felt Salamanca’s desperation to bring her mother home, and when I realized she could not I was devastated.
—Shane Prevosto
It is incredibly satisfying, and incredibly well-written. You aren't exactly sure what is happening throughout the book, but it is interesting, and it pulls you in. In the end, it's bittersweet. I cried. Walk Two Moons is the kind of book that makes you think, the kind of book that makes you cry, and the kind of book that you really want to read over again. I guess I can relate to the car trip she is having, and the beauty of her descriptions. Salamanca is truly growing during the book, and she seems like the sort of person I really want to meet, and be friends with. "Don't judge a man before walking two moons in his moccasins."
—Rachel
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/book-pair...Walk Two Moons is one of my favorite books of all time. I loved it as a kid, and I continue to reread it even now. Sal is a fantastic character, and her world is populated with the same kind of offbeat but lovable characters that Sharon Creech is so good at writing. There’s a bit of mystery, some humor, and some very moving moments as Sal regales her grandparents with the tale of her friend’s missing mother, as they journey to visit Sal’s own missing mother. The story is one you won’t soon forget, and it holds up to repeated re-readings.
—Monica Fastenau
