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Walk Two Moons
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Walk Two Moons (1994) (edit title/settings)

by Sharon Creech (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

"How about a story? Spin us a yarn." Instantly, Phoebe Winterbottom came to mind. "I could tell you an extensively strange story," I warned. "Oh, good!" Gram said. "Delicious!" And that is how I happened to tell them about Phoebe, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic. As Sal entertains... read more

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Salamanca "Sal" Tree Hiddle: The main character of this book. She has just moved from her quiet countryside to a bustling urban area after the death of her mother. She is overcome with grief, and this book is about her coming to terms with mortality.
  • Pheobe Winterbottom: Sal's new friend, who is a little paranoid.
  • Gramps: Sal's caring paternal grandfather. He drives Gram and Sal to Idaho to visit Sal's mother.
  • Gram: Sal's young-at-heart, paternal grandmother, who loves listening to the story of Phoebe Winterbottom.
  • Father: Sal's father.
  • Margaret Cadaver: Sal's dad's new love interest and Phoebe's next-door neighbor. She bright red hair like a witch and a "voice like dead leaves". Phoebe believes her to be an axe murderer because of her name, CADAVER!!
  • Mr. Birkway: Sal's English teacher and Mrs. Cadaver's twin brother. He loves words and stories and the wonderful world of literature.
  • Ben Finney: Mary Lou Finney's cousin, who lives with the Finneys. He takes a liking to Sal.
  • "Sugar" Hiddle: Sal's mother, who leaves her husband and daughter. Sal struggles with this grief for the whole book.
  • Mrs. Partridge: Mrs. Cadaver's blind mother.
  • George Winterbottom: The stiff father of Phoebe.
  • Mike Bickle: The lunatic who is thought to have kidnapped Mrs. Winterbottom.
  • Gloria: Gram's old friend, wanted Gramps to marry her instead.
Show all 13 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “It seems to me that we can’t explain all the truly awful things in the world like war and murder and brain tumors, and we can’t fix these things, so we look at the frightening things that are closer to us and we magnify them until they burst open. Inside is something that we can manage, something that isn’t as awful as it had a first seemed. It is a relief to discover that although there might be axe murderers and kidnappers in the world, most people seem a lot like us: sometimes afraid and sometimes brave, sometimes cruel and sometimes kind.”
  • “'Being a mother is like trying to hold a wolf by the ears,' Gram said. 'If you have three or four –or more – chickabiddies, you’re dancing on a hot griddle all the time. You don’t have time to think about anything else. And if you’ve only got one or two, it’s almost harder. You have room left over – empty spaces that you think you’ve got to fill up.'”
  • “In the course of a lifetime, what does it matter?”
    The stranger sending notes to the Winterbottom's door.
  • “Don't judge a man befor you've walked two moons in his moccasins.”
    the stranger that is putting enveloped notes on the winterbottom's steps.
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.
    Highlighted by 87 Kindle customers
  • You can’t keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.
    Highlighted by 67 Kindle customers
  • I started wondering if the birds of sadness had built their nest in Mrs. Cadaver’s hair afterward, and if so, how she got rid of them. Her husband dying and her mother being blinded were events that would matter in the course of a lifetime. I saw everyone else going on with their own agendas while Mrs. Cadaver was frantically trying to keep her husband and her mother alive. Did she regret anything? Did she know the worth of water before the well was dry?
    Highlighted by 63 Kindle customers
  • I decided that bravery is looking Pandora’s box full in the eye as best you can, and then turning to the other box, the one with the smoothbeautiful folds inside: Momma kissing trees, my Gram saying, “Huzza, huzza,” Gramps and his marriage bed.
    Highlighted by 59 Kindle customers
  • The reason that Phoebe’s story reminds me of that plaster wall and the hidden fireplace is that beneath Phoebe’s story was another one. Mine.
    Highlighted by 55 Kindle customers
  • Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins. Everyone has his own agenda. In the course of a lifetime, what does it matter? You can’t keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.
    Highlighted by 53 Kindle customers
  • I was terrified of car accidents, death, cancer, brain tumors, nuclear war, pregnant women, loud noises, strict teachers, elevators, and scads of other things.
    Highlighted by 49 Kindle customers
  • Phoebe Winterbottom, a girl who had a powerful imagination, who would become my friend, and who would have many peculiar things happen to her.
    Highlighted by 44 Kindle customers
  • She did. The following Saturday, Phoebe and I were going to Mary Lou’s again. As we left Phoebe’s house, there on the front steps was another white envelope with a blue sheet of paper inside. The message was: Everyone has his own agenda.
    Highlighted by 42 Kindle customers
  • Phoebe was a quiet girl who stayed mostly by herself. She had a pleasant round face and huge, enormous sky-blue eyes. Around this pleasant round face, her hair—as yellow as a crow’s foot—curled in short ringlets.
    Highlighted by 42 Kindle customers
Show all 14 quotes from this book

First Sentence edit see section history

Gramps says that I am a country girl at heart, and that is true.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1. AFace at the Window
2. The Chickabiddy Starts a Story
3. Bravery
4. That's What I'm Telling You
5. A Damsel in Distress
6. Blackberries
7. Ill-Ah-No-Way
8. The Lunatic
9. The Message
10. Huzza, Huzza
11. Flinching
12. The Marriage Bed
13. Bouncing Birkway
14. The Rhododendron
15. A Snake has a Snack
16. The Singing Tree
17. In the Course of a Lifetime
18. The Good Man
19. Fish in the Air
20. The Blackberry Kiss
21. Souls
22. Evidence
23. The Badlands
24. Birds of Sadness
25. Cholesterol
26. Sacrifices
27. Pandora's Box
28. The Black Hills
29. The Tide Rises
30. Breaking In
31. The Photograph
32. Chicken and Blackberry Kisses
33. The Visitor
34. Old Faithful
35. The Plan
36. The Visit
37. A Kiss
38. Spit
39. Homecoming
40. The Gifts
41. The Overlook
42. The Bus and the Willow
43. Our Gooseberry
44. Bybanks

Glossary edit see section history

  • mocassins: A heelless shoe made entirely of soft leather, as deerskin, with the sole brought up and attached to a piece of u-shaped leather on top of the foot, worn originally by the American Indians. (dictionary.com)
  • ornery: Ugly and unpleasant in disposition or temper; stubborn (dictionary.com)
  • malinger: to fake illness in order to avoid work or responsibility

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in Newbery Medal. (authoritative list)
This is book 940 of 986 in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Sharon Creech (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Harper Collins
Country: United States of America
Publication Date: January 1994
ISBN: 9780060233341
Page Count: 228

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Nine to twelve-year-olds will be able to read this and gain from it, but teenagers and older will better appreciate the emotional struggles expressed in this book.

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
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  • Island of the Blue Dolphins
  • Number the Stars
  • The Giver

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