Book Club Kits: Savvy

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Mibs Beaumont is about to become a teenager. As if that weren’t scary enough, thirteen is when a Beaumont’s savvy strikes--and with one brother who causes hurricanes and another who creates electricity, it promises to be outrageous... and positively thrilling.

But just before her big day, Poppa is in a terrible accident. Suddenly, Mibs’s dreams of X-ray vision disappear like a flash of her brother’s lightning: All she wants now is a savvy that will save Poppa. In fact, Mibs is so sure she’ll get that powerful savvy that she sneaks a ride to the hospital on a rickety bus, with her siblings and the preacher’s kids in tow. But when the bus starts heading in the wrong direction only one thing is certain: After this extraordinary adventure, not a soul on board will ever be the same.

• Mibs wishes, at least temporarily, that her savvy could “give [her] the muscle to turn nasty girls into slimy green frogs or to glue their mouths shut tight with a nod of [her] head.” (p. 17) Why do the girls in Mibs’s class make fun of her? What would you do in her place?
  
  
• The Beaumonts have to keep their savvies a secret from everyone. Would that be difficult for you? Do you think everyone has a secret? Who would you trust with your big secrets?
  
  
• Describe Mibs’s relationship with her parents and siblings. How is it complicated by their savvies? What are the positive and negative aspects of having siblings with extraordinary powers?
  
  
• Grandpa says to Mibs, “Your savvy’s in your blood. It’s an inheritance, like your brown eyes or your grandma’s long toes or her talent for dancing to polka music.” (p. 121) Are people born with special talents or do they have to work at developing their unique abilities? Are there any talents you wish you had?
  
  
• Explain how Mibs ends up on a bible delivery bus with Bobbi, Will, Fish, and Samson. Where do they hope to arrive? How do things go awry? Which scene in their wild adventure is your favorite?
  
  
• Slowly, Mibs discovers the way her savvy works. How does she figure it out? How is it different from the savvy that she originally hoped for? In the last year, what have you, like Mibs, discovered about yourself?
  
  
• How does Lill Kiteley end up on the bus? What would you say is her special know-how? How does she use that know-how during her time on the bus and how does it affect the passengers?
  
  
• How does Mibs’s relationship with Will and Bobbi change over the course of the adventure? Who do you think changes the most in the story?
  
  
• Fish and Rocket have a terrible time scumbling their savvies. How does this cause a ruckus for the Beaumont clan and others who know them? Are there any parts of your own personality that you have a difficult time controlling? Is it better to tone down parts of yourself so that you fit in or is it more important to be yourself completely?
  
  
• Momma warns Mibs that, “You can’t get rid of part of what makes you you and be happy.” (p. 186) What makes you you? How do you let that special part shine through?
  
  
• When Mibs thinks about Will’s obvious feelings for her she realizes that it “[makes her] feel too young and too old at the same time.” (p. 223) Do you feel like kids today are forced to grow up too fast? How might different aspects of modern life (the media, school, friends, etc.) affect the ways in which kids mature?
  
  
• After listening to so many voices in her head throughout the novel, what does Mibs discover about the voices that she and others listen to? Is there anything that boosts or stifles your confidence? How can you drown out the voices that don’t matter?
  
  
• What do you think makes Poppa wake up at last? Do you think it has anything to do with one of the Beaumont’s savvies?