Savvy (novel)

• Mississippi "Mibs" Beaumont – The thirteen-year-old main protagonist. Throughout the book, she reminisces about her family and speculates about her own future, as she feels she is on the cusp of growing up. Her savvy is to be able to hear the thoughts of people when they have ink on their body, such as tattoos.
• Fish Beaumont – The fourteen-year-old brother of Mibs who has the savvy to control rain or wind. He is often hot-tempered which affects his savvy but it can also be said that he is overprotective.
• Rocket Beaumont – The oldest child of the household, at age seventeen. His savvy is to control electricity. He loses confidence at the end of the book after nearly destroying a hospital with his savvy, and moves to his aunt and uncle's ranch in Wyoming, where he can let his savvy loose without anyone noticing.
• Samson Beaumont – Seven years old and Mibs' youngest brother. He likes hiding in dark, quiet places and does not talk much. His touch is noted as having a strengthening effect on people, although it is not clear whether this is his savvy manifesting early or a part of his personality. When he appears, however, everyone around him is stronger.
• Gypsy Beaumont – The youngest member of the family, at three years old, and Mibs' younger (and only) sister.
• Jenny "Momma" Beaumont (maiden name O'Connell) – The mother of the family. Her savvy is to be perfect in everything she does, including making perfect mistakes.
• Abram "Poppa" Beaumont – The father of the family, who was hospitalized after being in a 10-car pile-up. He has no savvy because he married into the family but near the end of the book Mibs says his savvy is "not giving up on anything or anyone". He has a tattoo of a mermaid from when he was in the navy. Supposedly the males in his family all lose their hair before the age of 30.
• Grandpa Bomba O'Connell – Jenny's father. His savvy is the ability to move land, creating earthquakes, creating new lands, separating land, etc. This is the reason for living in Kansaska-Nebransas, a piece of land created by him reserved for the Beaumonts.
• Grandma Dollop O'Connell (maiden name Payne) – Jenny's mother. Her savvy is to capture radio waves. She dies before the beginning of the book, but appears in some of Mibs' flashbacks.
• Lester Swan – Driver of the Bible bus. He is very soft-hearted and allows the children to travel on his bus. He has tattoos saying "Rhonda" and "Carlene", who are his mother and his former girlfriend who appear in his thoughts constantly sniping at him.
• Lill Kiteley – A waitress at the Emerald Truck stop Diner and Lounge. Known for being late all the time. She takes care of the children after she is fired, and quickly falls in love with Lester.
• Roberta "Bobbi" Meeks – Mrs. Rosemary's 16-year-old daughter. She acts very tough, but is secretly quite sentimental. She has an eyebrow piercing and a small press on temporary tattoo on her back that portrays an angel with vague demonic features. She has a crush on Rocket.
• Will Meeks Jr. – Mrs. Rosemary's 14-year-old grandson, who was raised as her son. He likes Mibs romantically and as a friend, and accepts her in spite of her savvy. Will wants to be like his father, Bill Meeks who is a trooper.
• Dinah Kale – Momma's sister whose savvy is to make anyone do whatever she wants (smiling at the person and telling them what to do). She does not appear in the book, but she features heavily in the Beaumont's flashbacks/stories.
• Rosemary Meeks – The preacher's wife. She takes over the Beaumont household after Momma and Rocket leave. She is a strict mother, yet she cares for each of her children in her own way.
• Bill Meeks Sr. – Mrs. Rosemary's oldest son, who is a state trooper and Will Junior's father. He had Will Junior when he was sixteen.
• Ozzie "The Great and Powerful" – The former boss of Lill and the owner of the chicken Emerald Truck Stop and Diner.
• Carlene – Lester's former girlfriend whose cousin owns the Heartland Bible Supply Company. Near the end of the book she is presumably arrested.

Kirkus Reviews awarded Savvy a starred review, praising Law's "fertile imagination" and "dab hand for likable, colorful characters".^[1] Susan Faust of the San Francisco Chronicle called the storytelling "magical" but noted that some of the adventures were improbable.^[2] The website Kidsreads called it "fun, hilarious, relatable and enduring".^[3]

In addition to the 2009 Newbery Honor,^[4] Savvy was named the second runner up in the 2011 Indian Paintbrush Book Award.^[5]