Salamanca Hiddle is travelling across the United States with her eccentric grandparents. On her journey, she tells the story of her friend Phoebe, a girl of wild imaginings. But beneath Sal's funny anecdotes is the deeper story of Sal's mother, who left home and never returned. Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins. What is the meaning of this strange message left on the doorstep? Only Sal knows, and on a roadtrip with her grandparents she tells the bizarre tale of Phoebe Winterbottom, Phoebe's disappearing mother and the lunatic. But who can help Sal make sense of the mystery that surrounds her own story . . . and her own missing mother?