What happens in Chapter 22 of Walk Two Moons?
In Chapter 22, "Potential," Sal continues telling Phoebe's story to her grandparents as they drive across the country toward Lewiston, Idaho. At school, Mr. Birkway — the new English teacher — makes a striking entrance, bursting into the classroom with contagious energy and announcing that the students will be keeping journals. He reads aloud from their previously submitted mythology essays without revealing the authors, causing the class to squirm as their private thoughts come under collective scrutiny. Phoebe's essay, which offers a careful and cautious interpretation, is read alongside others that are much more imaginative and free. Meanwhile, the mysterious messages left on Phoebe's doorstep keep unsettling her — this chapter's note states, "Everyone has their own agenda." Sal notices Phoebe's increasing anxiety and her knack for creating worst-case scenarios, while Sal herself quietly reflects on her mother's absence and her own reluctance to hope for things that might not materialize. The chapter ends with a subtle yet significant moment as Sal ponders what it means to have potential — a term Mr. Birkway uses often — and whether potential is a source of comfort or a burden when the future feels so uncertain.
Analysis
Sharon Creech uses Chapter 22 to execute one of the novel's clever structural moves: the classroom as a mirror. Mr. Birkway’s habit of reading anonymous essays aloud strips away the social armor that students wear, leading to a kind of involuntary self-revelation that resonates with the novel's overarching theme of hidden truths coming to light, whether we want them to or not. His character is introduced with a purposeful flair—Creech indicates through his enthusiasm that he will serve as a catalyst, not just a teacher.
The chapter title, "Potential," carries multiple meanings. On the surface, it reflects Mr. Birkway's hopeful approach to teaching. Underneath, it subtly criticizes the disparity between what people might achieve and what grief or fear allows them to attain. Sal's narration here is particularly succinct and indirect—she accurately depicts Phoebe's reactions while diverting attention from her own struggles, a technique Creech employs throughout to allow the reader to sense Sal's pain before she can articulate it herself.
The latest anonymous message—"Everyone has their own agenda"—serves both as a plot device and a thematic statement, planting seeds of paranoia in Phoebe while encouraging the reader to ponder whose agendas are genuinely concealed in this story. Creech's control over tone is impressive: the chapter transitions from lively classroom energy to an unsettling quiet without a noticeable break, reflecting how ordinary school days coexist with personal turmoil in adolescent life.
Key quotes from Chapter 22
“Everyone has their own agenda.”
The third anonymous message left on Phoebe's doorstep, which Phoebe reads aloud to Sal, deepening her suspicion that something sinister surrounds her family.
“Mr. Birkway had an enormous collection of energy zipping around inside him.”
Sal's first impression of the new English teacher as he storms into the classroom, establishing him immediately as a force of disruption and possibility.
“I did not want to have potential. Potential meant that you hadn't done anything yet.”
Sal's private reflection on Mr. Birkway's praise, revealing her fear that hope and promise are luxuries she cannot afford given her mother's disappearance.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 22
- potential
- The capacity or ability to develop, grow, or achieve something in the future. In this text it is used in a school or personal-growth context to describe what someone might become.