Savvy

Savvy by Ingrid Law, 2008
The Beaumonts always have interesting 13th birthdays, when their savvy first manifests itself. Her brother can create electricity, and her other brother can create hurricanes, so Mississippi “Mibs” is curious about what her savvy will be. Then her father is in a serious car accident and the preacher’s wife insists on throwing her a party anyway. Mibs becomes convinced that her newly discovered savvy can save her dad, if only she can figure out how to get herself to Salina, 90 miles away. She stows away on Lester’s pink Bible-delivering bus, inadvertently pulling along her brother Fish and the preacher’s kids Will Junior and Roberta “Bobbi” with her. Together with her little brother Samson, who was sleeping in the back, and Lill, who they pick up on the side of the road, every soul on that bus is changed through their extraordinary adventure together.

The writing is so full of similes that it was difficult to read at first, but then the story started pulling me along, and the message of the book is wonderfully cheering. We all have our own savvy, if we know how to look. I was able to read this book in about two sittings.