Don't Judge A Man Til' You've Walked in His Moccasins

This Newberry Medal Honor book by Sharon Creech is full of lifes' little lessons. I have a pre-teen daughter who loves to read, so this book was originally bought for her. She read it and loved it when she was twelve. I decided to read some of the books that she has read so that we could talk about them. I also have been feeling the need to read books to make sure they have appropriate subject matter for her age. I am pleased to say that Walk Two Moons is a wonderful book for young teens and older. The content is appropriate and worthwhile. Most everyone will come away from it rethinking the way they think of others.

Walk Two Moons is the story of a young girl of 13 named Salamanca Hiddle. We are brought into the story several months after her mother up and leaves her and her father to go on a much needed vacation across the country. Salamanca is the narrator in this story and we hear much of it as she retells it to her grandparents in their long journey across the country following Salamanca's mother. We are not told immediately why her mother left, but we know that it has caused Salamanca great pain. We also know that her mother loved her dearly and also her father. They were a happy family. Salamanca is struggling with being angry with her mother for leaving and judging her. How could her mother leave when she loved her so much. She and her father were lost with out her.

Salamanca has many experiences over her 8th grade year that help her deal with her pain, sorrow and anger. Someone in her town is mysteriously leaving notes on her friends' porch like, "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins" and "In the course of a lifetime what does it matter". Salamanca spends a great deal of time discovering what these 'proverbs' mean. She also spends a lot of time discovering that her mother probably had some very important reasons for needing a vacation. The vacation is extended for the entire year and it is only at the end of the book that we discover the tragic reason why.

This story is painful at times. I really was able to empathize and feel for this young girl and 'walk in her moccasins'. I feel this book is definitely for children 12 and over. There is a few scenes where Salamanca discovers kissing with a boy she is attracted to. These incidences are not just thrown in for no reason. Part of Salamancas' understanding of human nature is helped a long the way by this relationship. I would recommend this book to teens and adults. It can heal a broken heart.