Walk Two Moons

Strength, Engaging, Metaphorical, Journey, Spiritual

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Published by HarperCollins

Copyright 1994

Newbery Winner 1995

Walk Two Moons is about a 13 year-old girl named Slamanca Tree Hiddle and her journey to see her mother. She takes a road trip with her grandparents from Ohio to Idaho to see the mother who left her more than a year ago. During her journey, she tells the story of  Phoebe Winterbottom, a girl she befriends after moving from Kentucky to Ohio with her father. Phoebe's mother mysteriously vanishes one day and Phoebe starts receiving stranges messages like "Don't judge a man before you have walked two moons in his moccasins." Underneath Phoebe's story is Salamanca's. Salamanca still believes that traveling to Idaho to see her mother will bring her back home. The journey pushes Salamnca to face the truth about her mother, who died in a bus accident in Montana. The only surviver of the accident is Margaret, the woman who was sitting next to Salamanca's mother, and who is now her father's companion.

Suggested Delivery: Independent read, small group read
Grade Level (Lexile): 770L, Age 12

Key Vocabulary: flinch, huzza, shrapnel, infinitely, quizzical, ogle, dissuade

Teaching Suggestions:

• Before Reading: Explain to students that Salamanca's story is about her 2,000 mile journey to find her mother. Students will write in their journals about a time they took an long trip. Where were you going? How did you get there? What was the purpose of the trip?
• During Reading: As Phoebe Winterbottom's story evolves with Salamanca's, students will complete a venna diagram as they read to compare and contrast the two stories.
• After Reading: Review with students the events of the whole book. Ask studens if they predicted that Salamanca's mother wouldn't be going home with her because she died. Students will complete a written response to: Knowing what you know now about Salamanca's journey and the fact that her mother has passed, do you think it would have been wise if Salamanca joined her father on his initial trip to Idaho to see her mother?

Writing Activity: Students will use their venn diagrams to write an essay that analyzes the relationship between Phoebe's story and Salamanca's story. This essay should include evidence from the text to support comparisons.

Electronic Resources:

• Lesson Guide: This website provides a whole unit on Walk Two Moons. There are lessons, intervention strategies, strategies for English Language Learners, enrichment strategies, worksheets, writing activities, etc.
• Vocabulary: This site is an interactive site that lets students match vocabulary words from the book to their definitions.

Creech, S. (1994). Walk two moons. New York: HarperCollins.