Savvy by Ingrid Law

In Mibs Beaumont's family, your 13th birthday is a big one; that is when you find out what your savvy, or special power, is. Mibs hopes hers isn't setting off storms like her brother Fish, but when the big day arrives her dad is in a hospital miles away from home, and Mibs' mother and older brother leave to be with him. When Mibs discovers her savvy, she realizes it can help save her dad's life. She sneaks on a pink bus heading to her dad's hospital in Salina, and before she -- or the driver -- knows it, she is heading away from Salina with Lester, the harried bus driver, her two brothers Fish and Samson, Bobbi and Will, the preacher's kids, and Lill, a down and out waitress. Their adventures on the way to Salina will change them all, but especially Mibs, who finds out that perhaps she had her savvy all along.

This was a very fun book -- the idea of having a "savvy" was very creative, and it's hilarious to find out how each person in Mibs family deals with their own savvy. Of course, everyone has savvy -- some more magical than others.

I always enjoy kids books that are great writing and fun to read, but that also leave you thinking about things -- I hate to say that they have a "moral" but they do really get you to consider your own life -- and maybe make you feel just a bit better about being yourself. Savvyis one of those books!

2008, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

The Underneath is the story of an unlikely family -- a bloodhound named Ranger, a calico cat, and her two kittens, Sabine and Puck -- who live underneath the house of Ranger's owner, a social outcast who lives to hunt animals. When Puck, against his mother's warnings, adventures out from under the house, all of their lives change in ways they couldn't have imagined. Woven into their stories is the story of Grandmother Snake, her beloved daughter, Night Music, her husband Hawk Man, and their daughter.

Appelt has a gorgeous writing style, one that brings to mind timelessness and interconnectedness of all nature. She weaves together themes of love and hate, betrayal and redemption, and how we can build a family out of unlikely relationships. There are some difficult scenes in this book (the fact that the blurb likens it to Sounder, Shiloh and The Yearling should give you a hint!) but it is a story for the ages.

NY: Atheneum Books for Young Adults

Kit's Wilderness by David Almond

Another great book by British author David Almond, Kit's Wilderness is the story of Kit, whose family has just moved to the coal-mining town of Stoneygate to be with Kit's grandfather after the death of his wife. Kit meets John Askew, a boy in his school, who soon involves him in his game called Death. In death, kids take turns going into an old abandoned mining tunnel. Kit discovers that he and John Askew have a shared history in the mine. In the meantime, Kit's grandfather tells him stories about his days in the mine and about the families of Stoneygate; soon, Kit is seeing Silky, the little boy with blond hair who plays tricks on the miners in his grandfather's day, along with the spirits of other people from the mine.

Kit is writing a story within the story about a boy named Lak who lives in prehistoric times. Kit weaves Lak's story with John Askew's story, and through the power of storytelling he saves both his grandfather and John Askey.

I'm fascinated by David Almond's style; it is spare and lyrical, and he says a lot with very few words. This book has themes of family, generations, forgiveness, and living up to one's potential.