Summary: Recounts the adventures of Mibs Beaumont, whose thirteenth birthday has revealed her “savvy”–a magical power unique to each member of her family–just as her father is injured in a terrible accident. 342 p., Dial Books for Young Readers.
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Eva Perry Mock-Newbery Club 
I met this first-time author in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago when I was at the Public Library Association Convention. She said that although she loves Celtic fantasies and so forth, she wanted to create a fantasy that was uniquely American and grounded in American tall tales. All of the characters in this book were very well drawn and likeable.
In order to see her father in the hospital before he dies, Mibs stows away on a bus owned by a pink Bible salesman. (The Bibles are pink, not the seller.) Much to her annoyance, she is joined by her older brother, the pastor’s rebel daughter, and the pastor’s son, who has a huge crush on her. Unfortunately, nothing goes the way Mibs had anticipated, and the whole crew goes on a circuitous journey of self-discovery.
All of the action takes place on Mibs’s 13th birthday, when everyone in her family receives their “savvy,” or magical power. I’m not going to tell you what Mibs’s savvy is, but if you happen to have tattoos, be sure to think clean and pure thoughts when you’re around her.
Well, I think she succeeded at weaving totally American tall tales into this adventure. There for a while, I even thought of this as “realistic fiction” – but then the tattoo and other things happened – well, I’ll not be a spoiler.
I’ll just say that all must read this one for themselves!
I also LOVED this book! It was a great adventure and all the characters changed a lot. This was a really fun book.
This book was really good. The character development was wonderful, and the entire idea was very unique. I HAD to keep reading it and see what the crazy characters would do next….. : )
I agree with both xan and Allison. This was the best book I’ve read in a while.
This is a very enjoyable, fun, heartwarming book. I really liked all of the characters and the concept of savvies. I also thought the ideas that a bad thing can make a good think happen and that you have to choose the “voices” you listen to were interesting themes.
I agree with everyone else’s comments. I really, really enjoyed reading this book. I think the character development was probably one of the best things in it for me.
Sorry to go against everyone else’s opinions, but I thought that this book was just okay. The writing style seemed to be something directed towards eight or nine year olds in its descriptiveness. The idea was interesting, but the writing style wasn’t particularly good.
I loved this book, and i think it has a chance at winning the Newbery medal. The writing was very distinguished. The beginning was a little bit slow, but in the middle it was very exciting. I really enjoyed this book, and it is in my top 3 at the moment.
During our First Top 3 Vote this year, the following was part of a comment about this book:
“I can relate to the characters emotionally…”