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Savvy | 
 enlarge | Author: Ingrid Law
Publisher: Dial
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $9.49
You Save: $7.50 (44%)
New (32) Used (7) from $8.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 52917
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.7 x 1.3
ISBN: 0803733062
EAN: 9780803733060
ASIN: 0803733062
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: New hardcover, never read.
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Product Description
A vibrant new voice . . . a modern classic. For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a savvya special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity . . . and now its the eve of Mibss big day. As if waiting werent hard enough, the family gets scary news two days before Mibss birthday: Poppa has been in a terrible accident. Mibs develops the singular mission to get to the hospital and prove that her new power can save her dad. So she sneaks onto a salesmans bus . . . only to find the bus heading in the opposite direction. Suddenly Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing upand of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Lively language, fantastic characters, great tale June 18, 2008
I loved this book, as did my two young sons, ages 6 and 8, when I read it to them. It's a rollicking adventure, both in language and plot, and the characters are wonderful. We could hardly put it down and recommend it to anyone who loves a good story.
 Not a bad start, but room for growth June 4, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Savvy is not a bad book; far from it. It's just not a book for me. I think that overall, the book was geared towards a younger crowd than I anticipated, and I feel the book tended to be a bit too simplistic. And it suffered from what seems to be a growing annoyance for me: the "charming" kid colloquialisms that are sprinkled on every single page of the book. I get that the books are geared for kids, but when I was younger, I never spoke like the kids do in these books, nor did any of my friends. To me, it almost seems to be talking down to the readers, as if they wouldn't understand the feelings of the characters unless they were put into an easy-to-understand, cute manner. Maybe this is again that the book is geared towards a younger audience than I imagine it should be, and thus is written perfectly for that age group.
What Ingrid Law does a great job of in Savvy is show the strength and importance of family. The book centers around Mibs Beaumont, a twelve-year-old girl who will be turning 13 in two days. What makes her 13th birthday even more special is what makes all the Beaumonts special; that's the day that her savvy will develop. Some savvy's are subtle (like her mother's savvy, which is to be perfect) and some are more violent (like her brother Flash's savvy, which is electricity, or her brother Fish's savvy, who can't live near water for fear of creating another hurricane). The idea of the savvy struck me as being very similar to the development of the powers in mutant children in Marvel Comics' X-Men franchise. I found it interesting to see how Ingrid Law took this same idea and created a non-superhero story out of it. Mibs father is in a car accident 2 days before her birthday, and is hospitalized in the next town over. After her mother and older brother goes to stay with her father, Mibs decides to run away and try to get to the hospital as well, knowing that her as yet undetermined savvy will help him wake up from his coma. She hides on a bus with her brother Fish, their younger brother Samson, and the local preacher's kids, Bobbi and Will.
From here the story develops into a road trip adventure where each of the kids, the bus driver Lester, and Lill (whom they pick up on the side of the road when her car breaks down) learn to be true to themselves and grow into their own person. Ingrid Law does a good job of developing the feelings of each individual character and showing their growth. And while the book has a happy ending, it isn't a perfect happily-ever-after, which I also feel is a strong point for the book; life doesn't always come out just the way you expect it to, and all too often I think that YA books tend to push the idea that it does.
With the few flaws aside (which I feel are really only because I'm obviously not the target audience for this book), Ingrid Law has done an admirable job on her first book, Savvy.
 A good book May 29, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reviewed by Casey Holt (age 14) for Reader Views (4/08)
"Savvy" is about a family, and they all have, or will have, "savvies." A savvy is a special kind of know-how. Mibs is just about to turn thirteen, which is when her savvy should kick in. But two days before her birthday, her poppa gets into a terrible car crash. All her dreams of having a perfect (because that's her momma's savvy; everything she does is perfect) cake with sugar roses and pink and yellow frosting are crushed. Her brother Rocket gets to go to the hospital with their momma, because he's the only one who can make the old car run. (His savvy is electricity.) Mibs (12), Fish (14), Samson (7), and Gypsy (3) are left home with their old Grandpa.
Miss Rosemary, the pastor's wife, decides to move herself in, bringing her children, Will Junior and Roberta, who everyone but her mother calls Bobbi. Then Miss Rosemary announces that a "little bird" told her that it was somebody's birthday tomorrow, and that she was getting together a huge party for Mibs at the church. Fish immediately starts freaking out, telling Mibs how she knows as well as he does that 13th birthdays in the Beaumont family HAVE to be kept quiet (still remembering his own 13th birthday hurricane that he created). But they cannot sway Miss Rosemary, so the next day they're all herded to the church to celebrate Mib's birthday. When Mibs finds out her savvy, or thinks she found it out, she just knows that she HAS to get to Salina, where her poppa was in the hospital and wouldn't wake up. So she hops on a Bible delivery truck that says Salina on the side, thinking that must be where it's headed. But when the bus takes a right-turn when it's supposed to be left, and goes north when it's supposed to go south, they know that they are NOT headed for Salina.
This book was pretty good, I would recommend it for younger children; I thought that "Savvy" was for teens, but I would say maybe 7-10 year-olds would enjoy this book more than I did. It seems like it would be a good read-aloud.
find your savvy May 16, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
i picked this book up by chance and bought it after reading the first 10 pages because i didn't want to put it down. Mibs (short for Mississippi) is a wonderful character who turns 13 in the beginning of the story. it is an important age for anyone but especially for the Beaumonts, who find out at 13 what their "savvy" is. her brother Rocket can create electricity. her brother Fish can make hurricanes. her grandfather can move mountains. now it's her turn.
but her father gets into an accident, turning everything upside down and sending them on an adventure that teaches them some hard life lessons.
it's a refreshing story about growing up, about being different, about listening to your voice instead of others around you to figure out who you are. i especially love the message that we shouldn't be in such a hurry to grow up.
the story moves along quickly and vividly due to Ingrid Law's use of language and illiteration:
"like the ticks and tocks of a clock"
"with a zest and a zing and a zeal"
"hurly-burly fluster of truth telling"
the ending is touching but believable, not syrupy or fantastical, which stories like this are in danger of doing. i sincerely hope she'll continue the story and write a series because this one book wasn't enough!
Mibs is great! May 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved this book, and I loved the main character Mibs. She's a perfect 13-year old character--a little unsure of herself, just discovering her own power, and fun. I highly recommend this story. Makes you want to write on your own arm and share your thoughts with everyone!
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