Savvy (Ingrid Law)

Savvy
Ingrid Law
Walden Media
Fiction, YA Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: Turning thirteen - leaving childhood behind and taking the first shaky steps toward adulthood - is a big enough milestone. When you have Beaumont blood, like Mibs, it's even bigger. Every Beaumont has a savvy, a special skill, which strikes on their thirteenth birthday. Grandpa can create land, and her late grandmother used to bottle radio broadcasts. Her older brothers Rocket and Fish control electricity and weather respectively. Mom always does everything perfectly. Terrifying as some savvies turn out to be - Rocket can blow a city's entire power grid when he gets upset, and Fish can't be near any water deeper than a bathtub without risking a hurricane - Mibs can't wait to blow out her candles and find her own gift.
Just days before her birthday, a terrible call comes during dinner. A car accident lands her beloved Poppa in critical care in distant Salina. Mom and Rocket rush off to be at his bedside, while the local preacher's busybody wife - blissfully ignorant of savvies - steps in to take care of the younger Beaumonts left behind. Sick with worry, Mibs wakes on her thirteenth birthday determined to get to her father: her savvy, whatever it turns out to be, may be the only thing that can save his life. But her plans go awry from the start, stranding her and a collection of unexpected companions miles away from anywhere, with a wakening savvy she can barely control.

REVIEW: A fast read, Savvy picks up quickly and maintains a decent pace. The Beaumonts reminded me of an exaggerated version of the LaZelles, a gifted family featured in several short stories (and at least one book, which I've yet to read) by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Mibs struggles with the twin problems of her unexpected savvy and growing up during her ill-advised road trip. Her companions do some struggling of their own, as well; each of them, from the rebellious teenaged preacher's daughter Bobbi to the hapless Bible salesman who inadvertently becomes their driver, have their own troubles to overcome, some more easily than others. Most of the characters remain fairly superficial, just deep enough to contain their problems and the means to resolve them. It goes without saying that, eventually, Mibs does make it to Salina... but not, as she'd hoped, the bearer of a miraculous savvy that will make everything better. Aside from that, the rest of the plot wrapped up just a bit too sweet and neat to be believable, fixing problems and shooing extras off to happy endings whether or not they'd worked for them. It almost seemed that Law was overcompensating for the few plot points that didn't wrap up in sparkles and rainbows. The extra dose of sugar cost it a half-star, giving the finale a shallow sheen over an otherwise deep and moving moment. Otherwise, I found it reasonably entertaining, despite the sticky sweetness gumming up the edges.