Key Facts
full title · Walk Two Moons
author · Sharon Creech
type of work · Novel
genre · Young adult novel, quest novel, adventure/accomplishment romance
language · English
time and place written · Surrey, England, early 1990s
date of first publication · 1994
publisher · Harper Trophy
narrator · Salamanca Tree Hiddle narrates Walk Two Moons several months after the conclusion of the book's primary narrative
point of view · The narrator speaks in the first person, focusing primarily on her own experiences, emotions, and memories, but she makes a concerted and explicit effort to understand and convey experiences from other characters' points of view
tone · The narrator speaks in an honest and straightforward voice laced with humor, earnestly attempting to convey and reflect on her experiences
tense · Simple past, with an embedded parallel narrative and a great deal of flashbacks to a period prior to either the primary or the secondary narrative
setting (time) · 1980's or early 1990's
setting (place) · Bybanks, Kentucky; Euclid, Ohio; highways, towns and monuments between Ohio and Idaho; Lewiston, Idaho
protagonist · Salamanca Tree Hiddle
major conflict · Sal, whose mother has died in a bus accident about a year prior to the beginning of the narrative, sets out to visit the site of the accident and her mother's grave in Lewiston, Idaho in hopes that she can bring her mother back
rising action · During the trip west with her grandparents, Sal relays the tale of her friend Phoebe's mother's disappearance. The retelling helps Sal realize the complexity of her own mother's decision to leave home. When they have almost reached the site of the accident, Sal's grandmother falls ill, and Sal, who is thirteen, must drive the car down the treacherous slopes to the accident site herself
climax · Sal makes the perilous drive during the dead of night, but once at the site of the crash, she accepts the impossibility of her desire to bring her mother back
falling action · Sal and her father return to their home in Bybanks, Kentucky and learn to live without Sal's mother
themes · The role of stories in human experience, the past's intrusion into the present, empathy as a source of understanding, and nature as a source of comfort and strength
motifs · The dissatisfied woman, written texts, and journeys
symbols · Blackberries, singing trees, hair
foreshadowing · Sal's acceptance of Margaret Cadaver foreshadows her ability to let go of her mother; Gram's sense of satisfaction at seeing Old Faithful foreshadows her death
