Sunday, October 14, 2018

Book Review: Walk Two Moons - Highly Recommend

How did I miss this Newbery book for so long? Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons won the Newbery Medal in 1995, before any of my sons were even born. I should have discovered this gem by now! Although the book holds universal appeal, I wish I had a young tween girl in my life so we could read and experience it together. Alas, my boys no longer want me to read aloud to them - what a sad, sad day.

The book garnered many notes of praise:

"This story sings." - Booklist

"A richly layered novel about real and metaphorical journeys." - School Library Journal

"Packed with humor and affection... an odyssey of unexpected twists and surprising conclusions." - Newbery Award Selection Committee

I cannot describe this marvelous book any better than the cover copy does:

In her own singularly beautiful style, Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.
Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the "Indian-ness in her blood," travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a "potential lunatic," and whose mother disappeared.
As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold—the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

In my own words, I can only say that the writing absolutely sings and the story evokes such strong emotion that it brought me to tears at the end. What a powerfully moving book! What a masterpiece of great storytelling! I urge you, if you haven't encountered this touching tale, to give it a chance to warm and open your heart as it did mine.

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