Savvy, my new favorite book

What do you do when you have a really bright kid with a low reading level who hates to read? A good book is often the answer, and I like to spend part of every session reading aloud. Generally I have the student read a page and then I'll read one, alternating for the allotted time. This makes it less onerous for the student, and it lets me model fluent and expressive reading. But finding the right book is key.

I was talking about this with my friend Summer when she jumped up from the table, ran upstairs, and returned with the book Savvy by Ingrid Law. Published in 2008, the book is a Newbery Honor Book and spent some time on the New York Times Best Seller List. Savvy is written for a middle school audience, but it's a compelling read for older readers too.

Mibs Beaumont anxiously awaits her thirteenth birthday when she will receive her savvy, a special ability that arrives to those in her family at their thirteenth birthday party. Brother Rocket is electrical, brother Fish causes hurricanes, Grandpa creates new places, and Momma does everything perfectly. Only their Poppa is without a savvy, and the two younger siblings have not received theirs yet. Adolescence is spent learning how to control one's savvy, which can have devastating consequences if unharnessed. Mibs dreams of what hers might be, though Rocket warns her that boys get all the really good ones.

But two days before her birthday, Poppa is in a terrible wreck and taken to the hospital several towns away, where he remains in a coma. Momma and Rocket go to him, Rocket blowing transformers and street lights all the way down the highway. Mibs is convinced that if she could get to him, her savvy will be the one that will wake him up. But her plan goes array and she ends up traveling in the wrong direction with two of her brothers, the preacher's kids, a pink Bible salesman, and a down-on-her-luck waitress, all with stories, difficulties, and gifts of their own. When Mibs finally gets to her father, she finds that her savvy is not what she hoped it would be, and the family gathers around Poppa's hospital bed to say goodbye.

The book ends well, but not conventionally. There is a sincere sense of acceptance for those who are different and an understanding that we all have exceptional gifts, whether they are savvies or not. I especially liked the fact that the teenage years are portrayed as scary, difficult and wonderful, with gifts that require learning self-control in order to become sources of joy rather than destruction. The author uses the language in a rich, rollicking way that is fun to read aloud.

I'm reading this with two of my sixth grade girls. It would also be great for a book discussion group. I have a feeling I'll be needing to buy Summer a new copy.