Daily children’s book recommendations and events from Anita Silvey.
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We all have at least one talent. November 24, Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day, allows all of us to acknowledge our own individual abilities. Whatever you do best, take some time today to recognize that talent.
What if you knew that on a certain birthday, your thirteenth, you would be given a special talent or ability just like everyone else in your family? That premise lies behind our Book of the Day Savvy, by Ingrid Law, one of the most original and compelling novels of the past few years. To write this book, Ingrid Law asked herself what magic would look like if it sprang up in small-town America. She wanted to create a modern American tall tale. To that mix, she added the elements of a road trip odyssey.
Every member of the Beaumont family possesses a form of magic: Grandpa moves mountains; Fish can create hurricanes; Olive melts ice with a stare; Rocket sparks electricity. But right before Mibs’s thirteenth birthday party, where she will discover her special ability, things start to go terribly wrong. Her father ends up in the hospital because of a bad accident. The day of her thirteenth birthday, she tries to visit her father by sneaking on the bus of a Bible salesman. Then her two brothers, along with two of the local pastor’s children, join her. Will Junior, in fact, has a crush on Mibs but does not suspect her family’s secret. Unfortunately, the bus heads in the wrong direction, and Mibs and her fellow passengers have the trip of a lifetime. That is, before the police start looking for them.
In Savvy, Law creates a set of unforgettable characters and a nonstop plot that she brings together seamlessly. Mibs doesn’t quite get the savvy she was hoping for—but she certainly gets the birthday celebration of a lifetime! A quick pace, short chapters, intriguing concept, and great characters keep readers turning the pages. The first chapter of the book is so compelling that even readers who pick it up by accident admit that they can’t put it down. Hence this Newbery Honor Book has become a favorite of those in grades five and up—and one of those books that young adults in their twenties also adore.
What unique talent do you have—and which one would you like? You can think about both of these questions as you savor Ingrid Law’s Savvy.
Here’s a passage from Savvy:
Settling directly between Nebraska and Kansas in a little place all our own, just off Highway 81, we were well beyond hollering distance from the nearest neighbor, which was the best place to be for a family like ours. The closest town was merely a far-off blur across the highway, and was not even big enough to have its own school or store, or gas station or mayor.
Also recommended:
- Scumble by Ingrid Law
Additional Information
A few other events for
- Happy birthday Sylvia Engdahl (Enchantress from the Stars) and Gloria Houston (The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree).
- It’s the birth date of Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), The Secret Garden, Carlo Collodi (1826–1890), The Adventures of Pinocchio, Yoshiko Uchida (1921–1992), The Best Bad Thing, and James Ramsey Ullman (1907–1971), Banner in the Sky.
- Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species in 1859. On a related note, it’s Evolution Day. Read The Tree of Life by Peter Sis, Charles and Emma by Deborah Heiligman, and The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.
- In 1947 The Pearl by John Steinbeck is published. Also read The Black Pearl by Scott O’Dell and Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey.