For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a “savvy” – a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity…and now it’s the eve of Mib’s big day.
As if waiting weren’t hard enough, the family gets scary news two days before Mibs’s 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 salesman’s 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 up – and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.
With Savvy, Law bets everything on a single conceit, the idea of a family whose members each possess a unique, sometimes whimsical, sometimes supernatural, talent, which manifests itself on the bearer's thirteenth birthday. Law asserts that her characters' talents or savvys are "not ... sorcery," but an "inheritance, like brown eyes or ... [a] talent for dancing to polka music ..." However, because of the 'magical' element to the story, bookstores may feel obligated to market it on the Fantasy shelf and readers expecting extravagant otherworldliness will be disappointed. (Reviewed by Jo Perry).
Booklist
Starred review. Law's storytelling is rollicking, her language imaginative, and her entire cast of whacky, yet believable characters delightful . . . wholly engaging and lots of fun.
Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. There are no serious villains here, only challenges to be met, friendships to be made and some growing up to do on the road to a two-hanky climax. [A] marvel-laden debut. Ages 10-13.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. She's a natural storyteller who's created a vibrant and cinematic novel that readers are going to love. Ages 9-11.
School Library Journal
Starred Review. With its delightful premise and lively adventure, this book will please a wide variety of audiences, not just fantasy fans. Definitely an author to watch. Grades 4-7.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Luisa Completely amazing! I found this book completely amazing! Especially the similes and metaphors. It's a really good story too; exciting,fun, and just the right size.
I read this the first time in 4th Grade, by now I've read it about five, maybe six, times... it gets... Read More
Rated of 5
by carli savvy This book was awesome! So good I read it 4 times.
Rated of 5
by jason awesome book I love this book! It is really interesting and exciting.
Rated of 5
by Sarha Wow You should read this book it is very interesting. If you like adventure this is the book for you.
Rated of 5
by Brooke Love it I loved this book so much!! It was one of my favorite books I read it in 4 hours!!
Rated of 5
by Ake DEFINITELY A GREAT BOOK TO READ!!!!!!!!!! This was a very good book and I didn't want to put it down. I had to read it for a book report and I really enjoyed the story. If you like adventure, you should definitely read this book.
The World's Largest Porch Swing and Nurturing Talent
The memory of her family's visits to the
World's Largest Porch Swing in Hebron, Nebraska, sustains Mibs during the
bumpy bus ride to Salina where her seriously injured father is hospitalized.
Wackiness like The World's Largest Porch Swing has a sweetness in Savvy
and has nothing to do with kitschiness. Instead, Law is inviting us to celebrate
uniqueness wherever we find it, especially in ourselves. So if you can't make it
to Hebron to see the swing, the
World's
Largest Things website will tell you what's unique in your neck of the
woods, i.e. Kingsburg California's World's Largest Box of Raisins; Minnesota's
World's Largest Ball of Twine, or Oklahoma's World's Largest praying hands.
Another good website for exploring the larger than life is the
Roadside
America website which includes Anniston, Alabama's World's Largest Chair, an
office chair made of 10 tons of steel.
Law's savvys also makes us think about children, their talents, and how to
nurture them....
Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. And now she is forced to work as the king’s thug. But she never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po...
The first part of an enthralling new series leads readers on a fantastic journey filled with quirky characters, clever charms, potions and spells. Ages 9+.
These are 2 of the 8 readalike suggestions for Savvy. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
The most mature work yet from an incomparable storyteller, TransAtlantic is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with...
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
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From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years...
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Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part...
read more
Kenn Nesbitt is new Children's Poet Laureate(Jun 12 2013) Kenn Nesbitt has been named the new Children's Poet Laureate: Consultant in Children's Poetry to the Poetry Foundation, which noted that the two-year position...
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