Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the ""Indian-ness in her blood,"" travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a ""potential lunatic,"" and whose mother disappeared.

Beneath Phoebe's stories Salamanca's own story and that of her mother, who left on April morning for Idaho, promising to return before the tulips bloomed. Sal's mother has not, however, returned, and the trip to Idaho takes on a growing urgency as Salamanca hopes to get to Idaho in time for her mother's birthday and bring her back, despite her father's warning that she is fishing in the air.

This richly layered novel is in turn funny, mysterious, and touching. Sharon Creech's original voice tells a story like no other, one that readers will not soon forget.

Winner of the 1995Newbery Medal

A 1995 ALA Notable Children's Book
School Library Journal Best Book of 1994
Winner of a 1994 Bulletin Blue Ribbon
A Notable Children's Trade Book in the Language Arts (NCTE)
Winner of the 1997 Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

On her long car trip from Ohio to Idaho, 13-year-old Salamanca Hiddle tells her grandparents the story of her friend Phoebe, who receives a message from a ""lunatic"" and who must cope with the disappearance of her mother. But beneath this story is Sal's own story, and that of her mother, who left home one day and never returned.

Winner, 1995 Newbery Medal
Notable Children's Books of 1995 (ALA)
1995 Notable Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
Children's Book Award for Longer Novels (Great Britain's Federation of Children's Books Groups)
Outstanding Books of 1994 for Middle School-Aged Teens (V)
Best Books 1994 (SLJ)
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Books 1994 (C)