Savvy (novel)
Encyclopedia
Savvy is a 2008
children's
fantasy
novel by Ingrid Law aimed at children aged nine to twelve years. The American Library Association
named Savvy a 2009 Newbery Honor Book.
tose. Her mother and her oldest brother leave to the Salina Hope Hospital to look after her father, and her mother calls Miss Rosemary, the preacher's wife and mother of Roberta "Bobbi" and Will Junior, who decides to throw a birthday party for her. On the morning of the party, Mibs mysteriously manages to wake her sister Gypsy and her brother Samson's pet turtle, and she decides that her savvy is waking people. When the party begins to go badly, and Mibs begins hearing voices which seem to be the thoughts of those around her, she decides to leave for Salina, hoping that her savvy will wake her father. She finds a converted pink school bus which is being driven by a Bible
delivery salesman based in Salina and decides to stow away, although Bobbi, Will Junior and her brother Fish insist on coming with her. Shortly after the bus leaves, they discover Samson had been hiding in the back.
The children are horrified to realize that the bus is delivering to several more stops before returning to Salina, and when Fish, in a moment of anger, accidentally uses his savvy to cause wind in the bus, he attracts the attention of the driver as well as terrifying Bobbi and Will Junior. Although initially annoyed, the driver eventually allows the children to stay on the bus, introducing himself as Lester. At the next stop, Will Junior asks Mibs about Fish's savvy, but she distracts him by asking in return why he is called Will Junior since his father is not called William. Will grins and tells Mibs that she may not be the only one with a secret. Mibs then draws a sun on his hand to test the pen he gave her for her birthday. This allows Mibs to hear his thoughts, and she instantly understands her savvy. She panics and runs away from him shouting. Fish, knowing that Mibs is acting strange due to her savvy, forcibly wipes the sun off of Will Junior's hand, leading to more ill-feeling between the two families.
Lester stops to pick up a woman whose car is broken down. Her name is Lill and she asks for a lift to the diner where she works. Everyone goes into the diner to eat, but Lill is fired for showing up late and publicly humiliated by her boss, who is stopped by Samson biting him on the leg. The group flee, and decide to spend the night in a motel. When they turn on the TV, they are shocked to find that they have been reported as missing to the police, and each of the channels show pictures of the 5 of them. Before they leave, Bobbi and Will Junior confront Fish and Mibs about their unusual abilities; during the confrontation, Fish manages to gain control of - 'scumble
' - his savvy for the first time, but in doing so clearly reveals his control over the weather. At the motel, the children pretend to ring home at Lill's insistence, and then play in the pool together. In the pool, Will Junior kisses Mibs, after which she talks to Bobbi, understanding her better with the help of the knowledge she gained from hearing her thoughts earlier, although she is no longer able to now that Bobbi's temporary tattoo has washed off.
The next day, Lester successfully delivers the last of his Bibles, and after doing so jubilantly kisses Lill. Seeing this, Mibs tells Will Junior that although she likes him, she does not feel ready to kiss him again, and he tells her by drawing on his hand that he will wait until she is ready. The group make their final stop to see Carlene— Lester's now ex-girlfriend— and repay the money he owes her. Spiteful, she reports the missing children to the police and traps Samson in her house after he asks to use the bathroom. Using her savvy, Mibs is able to find Samson and release him, but the police arrive before the group can leave. Fortunately, Bobbi's brother, who turns out to be Will's real father, arrives and takes the Beaumont children to Salina to visit their father. Mibs uses her savvy on her father's tattoo to tell him what he needs to hear in order to wake up. The book's epilogue takes place a year later, with Mibs turning fourteen, Fish about to start high school and Rocket leaving for his uncle's house to have more room to control his own savvy. It is hinted that Momma is pregnant which Mibs finds out with her savvy.
Other characters:
2008 in literature
The year 2008 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 1 - In the 2008 New Year Honours, Hanif Kureishi , Jenny Uglow , Peter Vansittart and Debjani Chatterjee are all rewarded for "services to literature".*June 15 - Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times...
children's
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
fantasy
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
novel by Ingrid Law aimed at children aged nine to twelve years. The American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
named Savvy a 2009 Newbery Honor Book.
Plot
On their thirteenth birthday, every member of the Beaumont family receives a savvy, or an abnormal power. However, two days before Mississippi ("Mibs") Beaumont's birthday, just as she is looking forward to receiving a savvy of her own, her father is badly injured in a car crash and left comaComa
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
tose. Her mother and her oldest brother leave to the Salina Hope Hospital to look after her father, and her mother calls Miss Rosemary, the preacher's wife and mother of Roberta "Bobbi" and Will Junior, who decides to throw a birthday party for her. On the morning of the party, Mibs mysteriously manages to wake her sister Gypsy and her brother Samson's pet turtle, and she decides that her savvy is waking people. When the party begins to go badly, and Mibs begins hearing voices which seem to be the thoughts of those around her, she decides to leave for Salina, hoping that her savvy will wake her father. She finds a converted pink school bus which is being driven by a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
delivery salesman based in Salina and decides to stow away, although Bobbi, Will Junior and her brother Fish insist on coming with her. Shortly after the bus leaves, they discover Samson had been hiding in the back.
The children are horrified to realize that the bus is delivering to several more stops before returning to Salina, and when Fish, in a moment of anger, accidentally uses his savvy to cause wind in the bus, he attracts the attention of the driver as well as terrifying Bobbi and Will Junior. Although initially annoyed, the driver eventually allows the children to stay on the bus, introducing himself as Lester. At the next stop, Will Junior asks Mibs about Fish's savvy, but she distracts him by asking in return why he is called Will Junior since his father is not called William. Will grins and tells Mibs that she may not be the only one with a secret. Mibs then draws a sun on his hand to test the pen he gave her for her birthday. This allows Mibs to hear his thoughts, and she instantly understands her savvy. She panics and runs away from him shouting. Fish, knowing that Mibs is acting strange due to her savvy, forcibly wipes the sun off of Will Junior's hand, leading to more ill-feeling between the two families.
Lester stops to pick up a woman whose car is broken down. Her name is Lill and she asks for a lift to the diner where she works. Everyone goes into the diner to eat, but Lill is fired for showing up late and publicly humiliated by her boss, who is stopped by Samson biting him on the leg. The group flee, and decide to spend the night in a motel. When they turn on the TV, they are shocked to find that they have been reported as missing to the police, and each of the channels show pictures of the 5 of them. Before they leave, Bobbi and Will Junior confront Fish and Mibs about their unusual abilities; during the confrontation, Fish manages to gain control of - 'scumble
Scumble
Scumble may refer to:* A glaze painting technique* Scumble, an alcoholic beverage from the Discworld fictional universe*Scumble, a novel by Ingrid Law...
' - his savvy for the first time, but in doing so clearly reveals his control over the weather. At the motel, the children pretend to ring home at Lill's insistence, and then play in the pool together. In the pool, Will Junior kisses Mibs, after which she talks to Bobbi, understanding her better with the help of the knowledge she gained from hearing her thoughts earlier, although she is no longer able to now that Bobbi's temporary tattoo has washed off.
The next day, Lester successfully delivers the last of his Bibles, and after doing so jubilantly kisses Lill. Seeing this, Mibs tells Will Junior that although she likes him, she does not feel ready to kiss him again, and he tells her by drawing on his hand that he will wait until she is ready. The group make their final stop to see Carlene— Lester's now ex-girlfriend— and repay the money he owes her. Spiteful, she reports the missing children to the police and traps Samson in her house after he asks to use the bathroom. Using her savvy, Mibs is able to find Samson and release him, but the police arrive before the group can leave. Fortunately, Bobbi's brother, who turns out to be Will's real father, arrives and takes the Beaumont children to Salina to visit their father. Mibs uses her savvy on her father's tattoo to tell him what he needs to hear in order to wake up. The book's epilogue takes place a year later, with Mibs turning fourteen, Fish about to start high school and Rocket leaving for his uncle's house to have more room to control his own savvy. It is hinted that Momma is pregnant which Mibs finds out with her savvy.
Characters
The Beaumont family:- Mississippi aka Mibs - The thirteen-year old main character. Her savvy is the ability to hear a person's thoughtsTelepathyTelepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
spoken by any ink drawings on their skin. Throughout the book, she reminisces about her family and speculates about her own future, as she feels she is on the cusp of growing up. - Fish - Fourteen years old. He is often hot-tempered, but is generally supportive of Mibs. His savvy is the ability to create stormStormA storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...
s, but mainly focusing on wind and rain. He gains control of it halfway through the book. - Rocket - Seventeen years old. His savvy is to manipulate electricityElectricityElectricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
. He loses confidence at the end of the book after nearly destroying a hospital with his savvy, and moves to his aunt and uncle's house where he will cause less damage. - Samson - Seven years old. He likes hiding in dark, quiet places and does not talk much. His touch is noted as having a strengthening effect on people, although it is not clear whether this is his savvy manifesting early or a part of his personality. In Scumble his savvy is being able to disappear.
- Gypsy - The youngest member of the family at three years old. In Scumble she is 12 years old and is described as "flowery."
- Jenny "Momma" - The mother of the family. Her savvy is to be perfect in everything she does, including making perfect mistakes.
- Abram "Poppa" - The father of the family. He has no savvy because he married into the family but at the end of the book Mibs considers his savvy is not giving up on anything or anyone. He is badly injured in a car crash at the beginning of the book.
- Grandpa Bomba - Momma's father. His savvy is the ability to move land, creating earthquakes, creating new lands, separating land, etc.
- Grandma Dollop - Momma's mother. Her savvy is to capture radio waves. She dies before the beginning of the book, but appears in flashbacks.
- Dinah O'Connell - Momma's sister whose savvy is to make anyone do whatever she wants. She does not appear in the book, but she features heavily in the Beaumont's stories. In the book Scumble she is married to Thomas Kale. She has a little girl named Fedora (Fe) and a boy named Ledger (Ledge)
Other characters:
- Rosemary Meeks - The preacher's wife. She takes over the Beaumont household after Momma leaves.
- Roberta "Bobbi" Meeks - Miss Rosemary's sixteen-year-old daughter. She acts very tough, but is secretly quite sentimental. For much of the book, she has a false tattoo of an angel with a devil's tail which lets Mibs hear her thoughts. She is also known to have a crush on Rocket.
- Will Junior - Mrs Rosemary's 14-year-old grandson, who was raised as her son. He likes Mibs as a girlfriend and a friend., and accepts her in spite of her savvy. Will wants to be like his father Bill Meeks.
- Bill Meeks - Mrs. Rosemarys oldest son, who is a state trooper and Will Junior's dad.
- Lester Swan - Driver of the Bible bus. He is very soft-hearted and allows the children to travel on his bus. He has tattoos saying 'Rhonda' and 'Carlene', his mother and his former girlfriend who appear in his thoughts constantly sniping at him.
- Lill Kiteley - A waitress with a talent for being late. She takes care of the children after she is fired, and quickly falls in love with Lester.
- Ozzie - The boss of Lill and the owner of the Emerald Truck Stop an Diner. He has very short tempers and is not very kind to anyone.
Critical Reception
Ledger always dreamed of the awesome power he'd get when he turned thirteen. The day when folks in his family inherit an extraordinary talent called a savvy. But Ledger's dreams are soon in pieces. As well as the toaster, the television, and the wipers on the family minivan. After the Kales decide that it is safe to head to a family wedding ((In Wyoming]], Ledge's savvy grows. Worse, there's an outside witness to his monumental mess: thirteen year old Sarah Jane Cabot, eagle-eyed reporter and daughter of the local businessman. Now Ledge has to stop Sarah Jane from turning savvies into headlines, stop her father from getting to close to Uncle Aurtry's astonishing ranch, and scumble his savvy into control before he causes everything to fall apart. Starting nine years after his cousin Mib's savvy journey.External links
- http://www.walden.com/walden/properties/savvy/
- http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/yreaders/savvy/index.html