Walk Two Moons has all sorts of families – strange ones, normal ones, chaotic ones, and at the heart of it all, a broken one. Sal's mother has left, and she and her father are more distant than ever as they cope with their grief. But over the course of the novel, Sal goes on quite the journey, and is slowly able to put the pieces back together.
Still, she can never fill the void that her mother has left behind, and part of what drives Sal is a desire to understand her mother, and mothers in general. It's not so easy being a mom, it turns out. Both Chanhassen and Mrs. Winterbottom struggle balancing their devotion to their children with holding on to their own identities, and over the course of the novel, our Sal begins to understand just how tough this is.
Questions About Family
- What does Sal miss most about her family?
- How do Gram and Gramps Hiddle feel about family?
- Has Sal's family expanded in any way by the end of the story? Or has it just shrunk?
- Does the Winterbottom family change at all? If so, how does it change?
Chew on This
Sal distances herself from her dad as she grieves for the loss of her mom. As a result, she makes her family become even more broken.
Sal realizes who she is over the course of this story, and, as a result, her family gets stronger and bigger.