Ingrid Law

Savvy is one of those stories I wish that I had read when I was thirteen. The kind that would have stayed with me. The kind that would have been remembered for thirty-one years. The kind I would have shared with my daughter. It’s a charming coming-of-age tale with a unique slant, a great plot and wonderfully real characters.

Mississippi, Mibs for short, is turning thirteen. It’s a special birthday. No, not because she’ll officially be a teen, but because she will get her savvy. All the show more folks in Mibs family get their savvy on their thirteenth birthday. Grandpa found he could move mountains and Grandma caught radio waves in mason jars. Her brothers create storms and electricity. What will Mississippi’s thirteenth birthday bring?

Unfortunately for Mibs, family tragedy will interfere with her special birthday. This will lead Mibs and her friends on an adventure filled with growth, understanding and friendship. None in her band of runaways will end the journey in the same place from whence they came and they'll touch a few lives along the way.

As a debut author, Ingrid Law did two things completely right with Savvy. She didn’t over-sweeten and she told the standard coming-of-age tale in a unique manner. Mibs is a real character with a personality to match the savvy she inherits. In fact, all the characters are well developed and personable (even the prissy preacher’s wife). The plot moves swift and bumpy, just like the bus that transports us.

Savvy is an excellent tale with special recommendations for girls in the 10 - 13 age bracket, readers who enjoy magical tales, or those interested in coming-of-age tales. Perfect for classrooms in grades 4th -7th.

Review first published on Reading Rumpus show less

Ho boy is the US cover for this much better than the UK cover. Savvy is a wild magical ride with the Beaumont family, who are blessed on their thirteenth birthdays with the appearance of an unusual power or talent. Fish can call u storms, Rocket can do things with electricity, and Mibs is about to find out what hers will be. Just before her birthday, however, her father has an accident that sends him into a coma, and so Mibs must face her birthday without parents, but with a well-meaning show more Pastor's wife. The party is not a success and ends with Mibs, three siblings, and the pastor's children stowing away on a pink bible bus determined to get to the hospital. Unfortunately, the bus goes in completely the wrong direction.

It's a wild, fun and funny ride, but also an emotional one, as Mibs' impulsive actions threatens to bring disaster not just on her head and the heads of her family, but also on a few innocent bystanders just trying to help.

It's interesting that for a book with a supernatural set-up, it doesn't really have a supernatural plot, though the children's savvies wreak a certain amount of havoc as they go. I actually can't decide of this works or not. Does a book about a family of misfits and outsiders trying to get to see their father in hospital need a supernatural element at all? Does a book about a family of misfits and outsiders with special powers that set them apart need more of a supernatural element to drive the plot? When Mibs' savvy kicks in, she misinterprets it, and believes she can use it to wake her father, but she soon realises her mistake, so there's that, and the savvies make the journey fairly colourful, but I think you could remove them from the story and still have the same overall story. Nonetheless, it's well written, Mibs' is a great voice, and the pages turned fast and furious till the end. show less

Ledger Kale is in a family that gets a "savvy" - a special talent, of sorts - on their thirteenth birthday. Unfortunately, his appears to be a really unhelpful one: he can make things fall apart. When his family is off to a cousin's wedding and he causes problems with the car, they pull over and he meets a young girl Sarah Jane, who definitely spells trouble if she finds out about his family. Plus, Ledge needs to figure out how to control, or "scumble" his savvy fast, or he'll do worse show more damage than making the barn fall down and crushing all the jars of music his grandma saved (true story). A summer on the farm with his uncle, sister, and a bunch of cousins may be just what he needs, if he can manage to save that jar that ending up in Sarah Jane's possession...

I had really liked Savvy, the Newbery Honor-winning book about Ledge's older cousin, Mibs Beaumont. Scumble can be read entirely independently, and only slightly overlaps with those characters from the first book. Ledge has what sounds to me like an authentic voice of a 13-year-old boy just trying to figure out this thing called life. His family comes straight out of tall tales, and story has a lot of heart and humor. show less

A delightful romp that makes a wholesome argument for human nature’s essential goodness. This book is a bit like the movie Goonies—you will question the questionable actions, call things unrealistic, but then realize it’s an adventure story, a babysitter adventure, and a coming-of-age where the internal is expressed through external events. The misfit kids find a way through. Bravo. This is the first book I’ve read this year that I would like to read again someday. I didn’t like show more the narration, but everything else worked very well for me. show less