Savvy by Ingrid Law

Mibs Beaumont is just on the cusp of turning 13: the age when she will get her savvy. Everyone in her mother's family has one. A savvy is like a special magical gift: one older brother can control water, another can conduct lightning, her mother's savvy is that she's always perfect, and her aunt can talk people in to anything. Mibs is looking forward to hers but when her father gets sick and has to be taken to the hospital, all of her family's plans are changed. Mibs becomes convinced that her savvy, whatever it is, will be the key to healing her father, and she's desperate to get to him as soon as possible. And that's the start of one of the strangest road trips in history.

I really liked the idea of a savvy. It makes perfect sense to me, in a not-at-all-making-sense way. People do often have certain traits that set them apart, and not always the most useful ones. It's a great concept for a book. The themes of the book aren't that new: mean people can be lonely too, you can't judge things by how they look, standing up for yourself is important, everyone has secrets. But Mibs' voice and perspective is winning, and the supernatural elements of the story keep it interesting. I really like the character of Will Jr., and his interactions with Mibs. Careful readers will not be that surprised by the novel's resolution, but that doesn't make it any less satisfying. I'm looking forward to Scumble, out this August.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
The BFG by Roald Dahl
A Very Fine Line by Julie Johnston
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Going Bovine by Libba Bray