Review: Walk Two Moons

In tradition with my penchant for reading children's books, I've been reading "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech, a Newbery Medal winner, for quite some time now (because other books kept on coming out like "Clockwork Princess" that I just had to read first). That being said, "Walk Two Moons" was a terrific book worth reading. It's not a book you can storm through - there's too much packed into it to do that.

The story is about a girl named Sal who goes with her grandparents to visit her missing mother. On the way, she tells them the story of her friend Phoebe, her mother, and the lunatic. The story acts as a catharsis of sorts as it has parallels with her own story and the things she also has to learn.

The chapters alternate, more or less, in between Sal's narration and her trip with her grandparents. Each chapter is filled with interesting experiences, quotable quotes, and life insights. Indeed, each chapter is packed with things to ponder. In part, that is a reason it took me so long to read; it gave me reasons to put it down and think for a while. The book is not a page turner in the sense that it has no cliff-hangers and, although you are interested, the alternative chapters slow down the narrative.

So do I recommend it? Yes, of course, without a doubt. It's a book to come back to again. There is wisdom in its pages that children and adults alike ought to discover. It's a book that pulls on the heartstrings and talks to us about overcoming difficult times in our lives. If you're looking for a book to go through slowly (perhaps on a nightly basis) with your child, then this book works. If you're looking for a book for your child to go through quickly to gather his or her interest in reading in general, then there are better books I can recommend to you. But then again, you don't have to be a child to appreciate the worth of this book.