A vibrant new voice . . . a modern classic.
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 Mibs’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.
Savvy — Book Reviews
Praise for Savvy
"What makes this book so engaging is that aside from the whole mind-reading thing, Mississippi isn't extraordinary. She's not excessively brilliant, incredibly attractive or overly girly. She's afraid of growing up. She prefers to be called Mibs, but the mean girls call her Missy-Pissy. She wishes she could mess up less and be more like her perfect mom. (Literally, perfect-that's her mother's savvy.) Readers, boys and girls alike, will see a bit of themselves in Mibs. Also, the Beaumonts aren't the only ones with savvys. Normal people (the bus driver, the hitchhiker, the obnoxious gum-chomper) have them, too—they just don't recognize them...Short chapters and cliffhangers keep the pace quick, while the mix of traditional language and vernacular helps the story feel both fresh and timeless. And while road-trip novels tend to be more about the journey than the destination, the ending, like Momma's savvy, is pretty perfect. I wasn't sure how Law was going to manage it without going all fairy-tale, but she does the story justice, making the conclusion happy and heart-rending simultaneously, resisting the urge to tie it all up with a fancy ribbon and a happily ever after. Law's savvy? She's a natural storyteller who's created a vibrant and cinematic novel that readers are going to love."
Sarah Mlynowski, Publishers Weekly
Signature Starred Review
"Upon turning 13, each member of Beaumont family develops a supernatural ability, or “savvy, ” which must then be tamed. Well aware of the problems savvys can bring (the family had to relocate when one child had difficulty controlling his storm-producing savvy), 12-year-old Mississippi (Mibs) awaits her birthday eagerly as well as with a bit of trepidation. Then Poppa is seriously injured in an accident far away, and Momma goes to his side, leaving Mibs and the rest of family to cope with Mibs 13th birthday on their own. Initially believing that her savvy is the ability to restore life, Mibs sets her course for Poppa. Joined by her brothers and the local preacher’s kids, she sweet-talks her way onto a traveling Bible salesman’s bus. On the journey, however, Mibs realizes her savvy isn’t what she thought, which opens the way for adventures both geographic and emotional. Law’s storytelling is rollicking, her language imaginative, and her entire cast of whacky, yet believable characters delightful. Readers will want more from first novelist Law; her first book is both wholly engaging and lots of fun.."
Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist
Starred Review
"Mibs can't wait for her 13th birthday, when her special gift, or "savvy," will awaken. Everyone in her family—except beloved Papa, who married in—has one, from Grandpa Bomba's ability to move mountains (literally) to Great Aunt Jules's time-traveling sneezes. What will hers be? Not what she wants, it turns out, but definitely what she needs when the news that a highway accident has sent her father to the ICU impels her to head for the hospital aboard a Bible salesman's old bus. Sending her young cast on a zigzag odyssey through the "Kansaska-Nebransas" heartland, Law displays both a fertile imagination (Mibs's savvy is telepathy, but it comes with a truly oddball caveat) and a dab hand for likable, colorful characters. 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 film is already in development, and if it lives up to this marvel-laden debut, it'll be well worth seeing."
Kirkus
Starred Review
