Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins.
I have extremely mixed feelings about this book. I read it when I was really young and forgot pretty much everything that happened in it. I just re-read it, and I can't really remember why I loved it so much. Definitely an interesting story, and while I'm usually able to figure out what's going to happen in a book; I was completely thrown for a loop at the end of Walk Two Moons (maybe I just didn't want what happened to happen).
The basic premise of the story is about a girl named Salamanca (Sal) Tree Hiddle (I know what a name) who is on a road trip with her grandparents through the northern parts of the United States. They are going to visit Sal's mother who is supposedly in Idaho. Throughout the book, Sal is telling her grandparents the story of her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. Sal realizes that while she is telling her Grandparents Phoebe's story that she is telling her grandparents her story as well.
After Sal's mother leaves her and her father, they move to a new town where Sal befriends Phoebe who lives next to a lady named Ms. Cadaver (yes, like a dead body) who is Sal's dad's new "friend". Phoebe is convinced that Ms. Cadaver is a murderer who has buried her husband in the backyard (Phoebe has a vivid imagination). Phoebe's mom also starts receiving strange visits from a young man who Phoebe is convinced is a lunatic (I take it back - Phoebe is paranoid). At the same time that this starts happening, strange messages start appearing like:
"Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins"
"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"
Phoebe is, of course, convinced that the lunatic is behind it. However, soon Phoebe's mother takes off for a few days without telling anyone where she is going, and Phoebe is devastated. She tries to cope by saying her mother was kidnapped, but she just feels abandoned by a mother who she thought loved her. Sal's heart goes out to Phoebe, because she still harbors fresh wounds for her mother deserting her. In the end Phoebe's mother comes back, but Sal's doesn't and we finally learn why. But I can't tell you that! Because it would give away the ending.
I think one of the reasons that I love this book is because it is filled with so many quirky characters (and I love quirky people). There's the paranoid Phoebe who makes me laugh. Sal's grandparents are a laugh throughout the story, because they never do what they are supposed to do. Like in one scene, they are visiting Ol' Faithful, and Gram (Sal's grandmother) tries to go under the guardrails to get a closer look. Gram also exclaims "Huzza! Huzza!" when she get's excited about something, and Gramps (Sal's grandfather) always calls his wife "gooseberry"; which I think is sweet. Then there's the english teacher Mr. Birkway who is described as having a "few squirrels in the attic of his brain". And finally Sal talks about her mother, and you can't help but like her. In one flash back scene, Sal talks about her mother and how much she loved the outdoors. She watched her mother throw her arms around a tree and kiss it. I know it sounds weird; you'll just have to read it. I guess I appreciate people who just enjoy life, and Sal's mother, Sugar, is one of those people.
Objectionable Content for Parents
-First off, Sal never prays to God in the book instead she prays to trees. In the book she says "This was easier than praying directly to God. There was nearly always a tree nearby." Sal like her mother loves trees. I don't get why praying to a tree is easier than praying to God - I guess it's supposed to make for a better story????????
- In the book it says that Gramps cussed when a driver cut him off. Gram's doesn't like it and threatens to go off with a fictional character called the "egg man" who apparently she ran off with for three days earlier in her marriage, because she couldn't stand Gramps cussing. However, she tells Sal, "Don't tell your grandfather, but I don't mind a few hells and damns. Besides, that egg man snored to beat the band."
-In addition, Gramps uses the euphemism "gol' darn" several times in the book and "Lordy".
-The word "hell" is used once.
-When Phoebe's mother comes back she brings the "lunatic". Who we find out she had before she was married to Mr. Winterbottom. Mr. Winterbottom never knew that she had a child out of wedlock. They don't go into details, but Ms. Winterbottom keeps repeating "I'm not respectable!"
-Sal kisses a boy named Ben a couple of times. ( I like how it's described - "I felt like a newly born horse who knows nothing, but feels everything")
Once again, I don't feel like this is a good book for young children. This books deals with feelings of desertion, being satisfied with what one has in life, not judging someone until you know the full story, overcoming grief, and dealing with death. The ending of the book will leave you tearing up, reaching for the tissues, and maybe gasping when the full story is revealed. I guess, this book can just be summed up by saying life doesn't always go how we planned, but still find joy in the small things, and "that's the way it is. Huzza! Huzza!"
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