Walk Two Moons (1994) by Sharon Creech

🔴 Walk Two Moons is narrated by Salamanca Tree Hiddle (or Sal), a thirteen year old Native-American girl, on a mission to bring her mother back home. After giving birth to a still-born baby, Sal's mother had gone to depression. One day she just went away from home, and her last postcard to Salamanca was sent from Idaho. Hitherto Sal has been tormenting by guilt (was her fall from the tree the cause of her mother's miscarriage?), and by loneliness (does my mother not love me enough to leave me?) Then Sal's grandparents take her on a cross-country road trip, tracing Sal's mother's steps to Idaho, from where Sal hopes of bringing her home.

🔴 During the road trip, Sal entertains her grandparents with stories about her school friend Phoebe Winterbottom, whose mother has also disappeared from home; about her annoyance about Mrs. Cadaver, to whom her father seems to be attached lately; about Ben Finney, a boy with whom Salamanca begins to be attracted. The farther they leave Euclid, Ohio (Sal's current home), the more her story unfolds. We get to learn about her happy life with her father and mother back in Bybank, with the animals and the trees she's grown to love. And of course, the mystery of anonymous messages Phoebe's family has been receiving; and the best part of the mystery, which is about the "lunatic". A young man had been coming to Winterbottom's house and looked for Mrs. Winterbottom. Phoebe concludes that it was him who has sent those letters, and that he is a lunatic. Moreover, after her mother's disappearance, Phoebe's convinced that the lunatic has kidnapped her. At some point, Phoebe (and Sal) even believe that Mrs. Cadaver might have done something bad to Mrs. Winterbottom. 

🔴 At first, Salamanca feels that Phoebe's story is related to her own story; their mother were both disappeared. But the more she tells Phoebe's story, the more she realizes that it's not so. Gram and Gramps (Sal's grandparents) try hard to cheer Salamanca up during the trip by visiting some landmarks. But when Gram is having a stroke when they're near their destination, Sal must drive the car by herself ever so slowly to Lewiston, Idaho, for four hours. What will she find at the destination? Will her mother come home? 

🔴 As is indicated by the title, Walk Two Moons is a novel about passing judgement to others. 'Walk two moons' is derived from an aphorism that Sharon Creech found in a fortune cookies, 'Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins.' It reminded me instantly to Atticus Finch's advice to his children in To Kill a Mockingbird. But beyond that, this novel's also dealing with coping with one's loss, building new relationships, and accepting and being proud of one's identity. All in all, it's a touching story with a twist in the end.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2