Walk Two Moons: Chapters 12–22

by Sharon Creech
While trying to track down her missing mother, thirteen-year-old Salamanca entertains her grandparents with strange stories about a girl named Phoebe Winterbottom.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–11, Chapters 12–22, Chapters 23–33, Chapters 34–44
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. interject
    speak abruptly, especially as an interruption
    Occasionally, they interjected a “Gol-dang!” or a “No kidding?” But as I got farther into the story, they began to interrupt more and more.
  2. elaborate
    add details to clarify an idea
    When I mentioned about Ben asking where my mother was and my saying that she was in Lewiston, but that I didn’t want to elaborate, Gram and Gramps looked at each other.
  3. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
    Christy and Megan, two girls who had their own club called the GGP (whatever that meant), were whispering over on the other side of the room and casting malevolent looks in Mary Lou's direction.
  4. anonymous
    having no known name or identity or known source
    Phoebe imagined that every noise was the lunatic sneaking in or the message-leaver creeping up to drop off another anonymous note.
  5. skeptical
    marked by or given to doubt
    “Like Mr. Cadaver — as I told you before. Maybe Mr. Birkway helped her chop up her husband and bury him and maybe they were getting worried and decided to disguise the spot with a rhododendron bush.” I must have looked skeptical.
  6. critical
    marked by a tendency to find and call attention to flaws
    “I was just wondering why she doesn’t sew her own skirt.”
    “Sal, you’re becoming very critical.”
  7. cantankerous
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    “I guess this cantankerous woman is getting out of here,” Gramps said.
    I think fear had made us all a little cantankerous.
  8. crotchety
    having a difficult and contrary disposition
    She was as crotchety and sullen as a three-legged mule, and I was not quite sure why.
  9. colossal
    so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
    Besides, I was too busy throwing the most colossal temper tantrums.
  10. sullen
    showing a brooding ill humor
    I had always pictured murderers as being mopey and sullen.
  11. distinctive
    of a feature that helps to identify a person or thing
    To this day, I can smell the smell of the bark — a sweet, woody smell — and feel the ridges in the bark, and taste that distinctive taste on my lips.
  12. frenzy
    state of violent mental agitation
    Prudence was in a frenzy. “Where is my white blouse? Phoebe, have you seen—? I could have sworn—!” She pulled things out of her closet and flung them on the bed.
  13. amnesia
    partial or total loss of memory
    Maybe she got knocked on the head and had amnesia and was wandering around Lewiston, not knowing who she really was, or thinking she was someone else.
  14. farfetched
    highly imaginative but unlikely
    On the way home, when Dad asked if Phoebe’s mother had come back yet, I said, “No. Phoebe thinks a lunatic has carried her off.”
    “A lunatic? Isn’t that a bit farfetched?”
  15. foresee
    realize beforehand
    Dad said, “You can’t predict — a person can’t foresee — you never know —”
Created on Tue Oct 01 18:11:25 EDT 2013 (updated Fri Jun 13 13:05:01 EDT 2025)

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