Walk Two Moons tells the story of Salamanca (Sal) Tree Hiddle as she takes a trip with her grandparents from Euclid, Ohio, to Lewiston, Idaho, to visit her mother's grave. Along the journey, she tells them the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, a girl she befriended when Sal and her father moved from Kentucky to Ohio after the death of her mother. The one thing Phoebe and Sal have in common is the absence of their mothers; Phoebe's mother unexpectedly disappeared one day. We later find out the truth about Mrs. Winterbottom when it is revealed that she has an illegitimate son referred to as the "lunatic" by Phoebe and Sal. The family accepts her explanation and is reunited.

During this journey, Sal's grandmother is bitten by a snake in South Dakota. Her health begins to fail at this point, and by the end of the story, she has passed away. Eventually, Sal does manage to reach Idaho and visit the grave of her mother, who died when the bus she was traveling in went off the road. At the end of the novel, Sal and her father move back to Kentucky, where they begin to rebuild their lives. Sal, having received a sense of closure, is now more hopeful about the future.

Sal, a young Native American girl, is on a journey with her grandparents, tracing the journey of her absent mother, Sugar. Having been removed from her rural environment into city life, she struggles to adapt to school and her father's dating. On her journey, she tells her grandparents  tales about Phoebe Winterbottom, her best friend, and Phoebe's unusual family. During the trip, Sal's grandmother is taken ill and must be hospitalized. Her grandfather allows Sal to continue her journey to Lewiston, the destination of her mother. There she finds the wreckage of her mother's vehicle, and with the help of a peace officer, finds her mother's grave. This seemingly fruitless journey becomes one of discovery in the knowledge that her mother's spirit is alive in the earth and within herself.

What are the major themes in Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech?

The most prominent theme in Walk Two Moons is that of coming of age. Corollary themes are identity and finding self, which are related but have differing fine points. The first, the rites of passage to coming of age, is the most important theme. Sal must pursue understanding and acceptance of things that at the outset of the story are beyond her capability of grasping. For example, by the end of the novel, she must understand her mother's quest and accept her death. Not only this, but Sal must form a new resolve and embrace a new courage to go forward in her world and life without her mother.

A correlated them is that of identity. Sal's mother lost a baby by saving her other child, Sal, and as a result of the event felt at odds with her sense of identity. The same event and his wife's quest caused Sal's father to waver in his sense of identity, so much so that he had to turn his back on all that had previously identified him: the farm and the memories of his wife at home there. This abandonment of the roots of identity shook Sal's own sense of identity and prohibited her from feeling at home in the new town.

Finally, in a closely related theme, Sal had to find herself just as her mother had done. Sal had to find the answers that would quiet her tossed and torn world and connect her with her heritage and her peace of mind. Sal's mother went on her quest to her past and, following in her mother's footsteps, even to her grave, Sal must face the dangers and lessons of her own quest to find her own self.

What is the theme of Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech?

The theme of Walk Two Moons is dealing with the loss of a loved one. In the novel, three characters lose their mothers in different ways. How they deal with that loss is dealt with by interweaving their stories into one.

Ben’s mother has been placed in a mental health clinic. He does not reveal the whereabouts of his mother to the other characters until near the end of the story. Some foreshadowing is evident when Ben objects to the term “lunatic,” which Phoebe uses for the young man who comes to the door.

Phoebe’s mother disappears, leaving home to deal with the arrival of the son she gave up for adoption before her marriage to Mr. Winterbottom (this is Phoebe’s “lunatic”). Phoebe refuses to believe her mother would willingly desert her family, so she comes up with a story that her mother was kidnapped. She believes that the “lunatic” is somehow connected to her mother’s disappearance, as indeed he is, but not in the way she thinks.

Sal’s mother has been killed in a bus accident. Mrs. Hiddle had left her family, meaning it to be only temporary as she went to visit a cousin after the death of her baby. Sal believes that if she can reach the place where her mother is resting by her mother’s birthday, somehow she can bring her home.

Each of these characters must come to terms with their loss, but also the pain of growing up, finding out that their mothers are fallible and even mortal. While Phoebe’s mother returns, having acknowledged her son to her family, both Sal and Ben must live with the fact that their mothers are not coming home. This seems to draw them together as they both come to terms with their loss but also their discovery of each other.