Sal is our kickbutt narrator. In our humble Shmoop opinion, she's one of the all-time best young adult narrators. She is wise beyond her years, and she loves life with every molecule of her being. She copes with lots of sadness and pain, and she does it in a pretty remarkable way. Also, she uses all five of her senses when she observes and notices things. All these awesome qualities make for a truly delicious story told by a delightful character. We learn right away the following things about Sal:
Name: Salamanca Tree Hiddle
Nickname: Sal
Age: 13
Parents: Chanhassen Hiddle and Dad Hiddle
Hometown: Bybanks, Kentucky
Likes: Trees, blackberries, her long hair, songbirds, her farm, animals, swimming, anything that has to do with nature, exploring, Ben Finney, Gram and Gramps
Dislikes: Cars, …show more content…
She grew up around cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats, birds, and many, many beautiful trees. She learned through her mother and father how to respect nature. Nature is her playground, and it is also the way she connects to things greater than herself.
The cool thing about Sal is that she is an amazing storyteller. She can spin a yarn better than most people three times her age. She is not conceited or selfish. She doesn't spend all of her time talking about herself and her wants, needs, fears, and worries. Instead, she tells us about the people around her. In fact, she's quite the observer. Because of this, we get to know everyone in her life very well.
Nope, Sal is definitely not a self-absorbed narrator, which makes it harder to get a crystal clear picture of who she is. However, we can learn a lot about her by observing how she tells her stories. What kinds of things does she notice? Who does she often talk about? What does she find funny? What does she find sad? In asking these questions, we can really explore the huge journey that Sal goes on – both literally and