Walk Two Moons, published in 1994, was Sharon Creech's first novel to be published in the United States. The novel began, in the drafting stage, as a sequel to Creech's 1990 novel, Absolutely Normal Chaos, until, while writing, Creech came up with the character of Salamanca Tree Hiddle. The novel's frame—a road trip from Euclid, Ohio to Lewiston, Idaho—was inspired by a road trip Creech took with her family as a child, which was also from Euclid to Idaho. The genesis of the title and for Sal's Native American ancestry came from a fortune cookie Creech found in her purse while writing the novel; the fortune was the phrase, "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins."
Walk Two Moons won the Newbery Medal in 1995; Creech was unaware that the book was even being considered for the award but has written that receiving the award changed her life. It granted her a significant degree of freedom as an artist to be able to write for a living, and to know that her books would be published and reach an audience. In addition to the Newbery, Walk Two Moons has been recognized as an ALA Notable Children’s Book and an NCTE Notable Children’s Book in the Language Arts and has won accolades such as the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon, the School Library Journal Best Book, Oklahoma's Sequoyah Young Adult Book Award, and the Virginia Young Readers Award.
