Overcoming grief

(Editor's note: Tuckahoe Middle School seventh-grade English students recently wrote editorials designed to persuade Henrico citizens to read, listen to or watch a story or book that reflected their individual cultures, as a way to help others better understand them. This is one of those editorials; click here to read others.)

I am a child born in Richmond, Virginia. My dad was born in England and came to America to marry my mom. I loved my dad, but on June 3, 2013, he died. I was 5 at the time and it took about 4 years for it to sink in. I miss him, but around a year ago a friend recommended the book Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech to me and said, “You should read this book, I think you’d resonate with the characters and story.” I read the book about a month later and realized that it did resonate with me, and it halted my grief. Walk Two Moons is a book that I think anyone who has or is dealing with grief should read.

Walk Two Moons is a realistic fiction book about a girl named Sal Hiddle who is from Bybanks, Kentucky who lost her mom and moved to Euclid, Ohio. She makes friends with her neighbor Phoebe Winterbottom and has a bunch of adventures with her. Sal’s grandparents come and pick up Sal and Take her around the country to see a bunch of national parks, and during the drive, Sal tells the story of phoebe and it gets crazy.

Sal’s last stop is to Lewiston, Idaho where she thinks she might get her Mom back.

I love this story because I feel that Sal and I have a very similar story, we both have met some crazy people. I have also been on a plethora of road trips with my grandparents. Unfortunately, our stories are similar in the fact that we both have lost a parent. I like Walk Two Moons, and if you’ve lost someone in your life or not, I would recommend that you read Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.