What happens in Chapter 13 of Walk Two Moons?
Chapter 13 introduces Mr. Birkway, Salamanca's lively and unconventional English teacher, who bursts into class with an infectious enthusiasm that instantly sets him apart from every other adult in Sal's life. He assigns the class to share journal entries — a task that makes several students uneasy, especially Phoebe, who fiercely guards her private thoughts. Birkway reads selections aloud without revealing their authors, but the thinly veiled anonymity does little to ease the tension in the room. Among the entries is one that hints at a hidden message or meaning beneath ordinary surfaces — a theme Birkway eagerly latches onto. Sal watches all of this with her usual blend of dry humor and quiet longing, contrasting Birkway's exuberance with the more subdued emotional landscape of her own life. The chapter also furthers the parallel road-trip narrative, with Sal, her grandparents, and the story of Phoebe's mysterious stranger continuing to intertwine in Creech's signature double-helix structure.
Analysis
Creech uses Chapter 13 to make a subtle tonal shift: Birkway's lively energy — he literally bounces — brings some lightness to a novel that's been steadily building up its themes of grief. His nickname, "Bouncing Birkway," reflects a playful connection that a child might create for someone who seems almost too full of life, and Creech allows the chapter title to establish character before any dialogue is spoken. The exercise of reading journals is a smart structural choice: it reflects the novel's confessional style, where Sal tells her mother's story by recounting Phoebe's. There's a direct tension between privacy and exposure here, and Phoebe's worry about her journal foreshadows her deeper fear of what lies beneath her family's seemingly normal surface. Birkway's excitement for hidden meanings acts as a thematic marker — Creech is nudging the reader to look for subtext, to seek out what characters are not ready to express outright. The chapter also continues the theme of messages and signs that weaves through the road-trip narrative, linking Gram and Gramps's journey west with Sal's inner exploration. Creech's writing maintains Sal's wry, observant tone, ensuring that Birkway never becomes a caricature; his joy is genuine, and it sharpens Sal's muted yearning for her mother.
Key quotes from Chapter 13
“Mr. Birkway was like a large golden retriever who didn't know his own strength.”
Sal's first extended description of Birkway establishes his overwhelming, well-meaning energy through an animal simile that is both affectionate and gently cautionary.
“Everyone has their own agenda hidden inside them.”
Birkway makes this observation while responding to a student journal entry, and it doubles as the chapter's thematic thesis on concealed motive and inner life.
“I did not want anyone reading my journal out loud. A journal is a private thing.”
Phoebe voices her discomfort with the assignment, a protest that foreshadows her deeper resistance to having the secrets of her family made visible.
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