Children's Review: Savvy



This first novel is pure fun--yet not without its bittersweet moments. Mibs (short for "Mississippi") Beaumont opens her first-person narrative two days before her 13th birthday with an anecdote about the chaos that ensued on her brother Fish's 13th birthday the year before. The Beaumont children all inherited a "savvy" from their mother--a savvy that manifests itself when they turn 13. Fish's savvy activates around water; on his milestone birthday, he unwittingly unleashed a hurricane. Older brother Rocket's talent is tied to electricity. What would it be for Mibs?

This burning question takes a back seat after Mibs learns that her father has been in an accident and is lying in a coma, and her mother goes off to be with him at a hospital in Salina, Kan. To make matters worse, Preacher Meeks's wife decides that what the Beaumonts strive to keep a most private affair will be open practically to the public: The woman invites Mibs's entire class to a birthday party at the church! There, a rash of mishaps leads to a long series of adventures. Mibs spies a pink Bible delivery truck for a company based in Salina and hops aboard, followed closely by brother Fish, seven-year-old brother Samson, plus 16-year-old Bobbi Meeks and 13-year-old Will Meeks. The trouble is, the truck has a few stops to make before Salina--and they encounter a few personalities and complications along the way. The book deals with cliques but isn't mean (the popular girls call the heroine "Missy-pissy"); it addresses rites of passage without over-angst ("Suddenly, as I looked at those teenaged girls in their teenaged clothes, I felt younger than twelve-turning-thirteen and my special-occasion dress felt not-so-special"). In short, debut author Law aims her tale at tweens, with plenty of action, humor and an uplifting message. Certain indicators suggest that Mibs possesses a savvy that she believes can help to bring her father out of his coma. But when her hunch turns out to be false, she must find another way to get through to him. Although the author deals with supernatural powers, she keeps the emotions and main events real. She demonstrates to readers that there are no quick fixes; the solutions come from perseverance and the most instinctive and heartfelt impulses.--Jennifer M. Brown

 

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