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Savvy is a Middle Grade Literature series by Ingrid Law which was a runner-up for that year's Newbery Medal, following a large family with hereditary powers, or "savvies" that appear on their thirteenth birthdays, and which they must learn to "scumble" (or control their usage of). The first book, ''Savvy'', follows Mibs O'Connell, whose father has been in a car accident, causing her, her brothers Samson and Fish, and some friends to go try to see him, as Mibs hopes that her new power is to wake people up, only to find reason to question this.

The second book, Scumble, follows Mib's cousin, Ledger Kale several years after that book. His new savvy is to uncontrollably cause things (watches, bikes, etc.) to fall apart. After a disastrous incident at Fish's wedding, he is left at his uncle's ranch to learn to control his powers (which soon turn out to entail not just making things fall apart, but reassembling them into something new), while trying to keep them secret from local snoop SJ Cabot (who he begins to develop a crush on), daughter of a local businessman foreclosing on everything in sight which reeks of the abnormal to him. Additional subplots in the novel include his grandfather's poor health, and other members of the family searching for a lost treasure supposedly left by the first-ever woman with a savvy.

The third (and so far final) book, Switch features Mibs's sister Gypsy, who has the savvy to see in the future, suddenly having her world upheaved, when an unexplained magical event causes everyone inside the town with a savvy (Gypsy, Samson, their mother and their brother Tucker) to have their power radically changed. Now, Gypsy finds herself able to stop time, but baffled by how there are some people who seem immune to its effects, as well as by her senile grandmother wandering off and getting into danger due to one of Gypsy's last visions being of her about to jump off a clock tower.


Tropes:

  • The Ace: Mibs and her siblings' mother has the savvy of doing everything perfectly, at least until the third book when the titular Switch makes her a walking jinx.
  • Actionized Sequel: The first book is more character driven and motivated by simple misunderstandings. The second one has an impressive showdown where the various family members use their savvies against bulldozers trying to demolish the ranch house.
  • All Girls Like Ponies: Marisol and Mesquite developed their powers early (at the age of five) using them to levitate their plastic ponies during play time.
  • Ancestral Name: Mississippi's crush is named William "Will" Meeks Jr, which confuses her, since his father doesn't seem to be named William Sr. It turns out, however, that Bill, who they thought was his brother, was actually the real William Sr., and the man who Mississippi thought was Will's father is actually his grandfather.
  • Ascended Extra: Ledge is only mentioned briefly, and not by name, in the first book but is the protagonist of the second. Autry, Rocket, Gypsy, Marisol, Mesquite and Grandpa O'Connell also have major roles in Scumble (as well as Switch in Gypsy's case) despite being pretty minor characters (or even only mentioned) in the first book.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: This becomes Tucker's savvy in their book, although the last vision Gypsy had before the Switch shows that someday, he will become an Incredible Shrinking Man, although whether that means he will gain a new power or switch them is unrevealed.
  • Cannot Keep a Secret: Ledge's friend Big Mouth Brody canny only keep secrets for a few minutes.
  • The Cavalry: In the third book a group of Marines on leave get enlisted for the climax to try and help save Gypsy's grandmother from falling off the clock tower.
  • Clashing Cousins: Marisol and Mesquite can be bullying towards Ledge, although its hinted this might just be in a Stern Teacher way (or that that's how they see it, anyway).
  • Combo Platter Powers: Samson can both turn invisible and give people a sense of inner strength with a touch, while everyone else has only one save (he loses the first in Switch but it's unclear if he kept the strength giving ability).
  • Consummate Liar: SJ Cabot, and yet, at least at first, even when they no better, people always believe her, because her Savvy is to make people believe whatever she writes.
  • Cool Uncle: Autry is a good mentor to his sisters' children, especially to Ledge and Rocket.
  • Death by Childbirth: Marisol and Mesquite's mother died when they were born.
  • Demoted to Extra: Mibs is the narrator of the first book but only appears briefly (near the beginning and near the end during gatherings at the ranch) in the first sequel, and is only mentioned in Switch.
  • Devastating Remark: Zane has very low self-esteem and commonly gets a voice in his head yelling, "WORTHLESS!" because of a teacher calling him that before the events of the book.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: Mississippi "Mibs" Beaumont is sometimes called "Missy Pissy" by some of her meaner classmates in the first book.
  • Extreme Doormat: Lester the truck driver in the first book is bossed around a lot by his mother and his girlfriend.
  • Family Relationship Switcheroo: Will Meeks Jr. was born when his father was a teenager and so is raised by his grandparents as their son. Unlike most examples of the trope, it’s not exactly a secret (although Mibs doesn’t know about it).
  • Good Parents: All of the non-muggle parents in the series are caring, decent, intelligent people (although Ledge's mom is a bit of a Control Freak at times, although it extends more towards other members of the family than her own kids).
  • Grumpy Old Man: Gender-inverted with Great-Aunt Jules, a constant heckler who travels back in time when she sneezes.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Noble Cabot, at the end of the second book.
  • Heroic Bastard: Will Meeks Jr., who was born out of wedlock but is a nice guy and dependable companion throughout the first book and well aware about the entire savvy world and cool with it by the second.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All the books are One-Word Title starting with S and relating to the titular powers of the series: Savvy, the name of an individual power, Scumble, learning to control a power, and Switch, switching out a previous power for a new one.
  • Intrepid Reporter: SJ Cabot is the annoying preteen version, printing her own paper describing sensationalist and exaggerated stories and looking for stuff around town to write about.
  • Invisible Introvert: Samson is broody, quiet, and shy; appropriately enough, his savvy is to turn invisible. At first, anyway.
  • Invisibility: Samson's initial savvy. After the Switch, he instead can make flames.
  • Knight Templar Parent: Noble Cabot from the second book is obsessed with keeping the unusual away from his daughter Sarah Jane due to suspecting she has a savvy like her mother.
  • Last Girl Wins: Rocket's second girlfriend is the one he seems to end up with.
  • Living Drawing: A variant: Mibs has the power to hear tattoos talking, reflecting the thoughts of the person who has them.
  • Mundane Utility: The family grandmother could snatch radio waves out of the air and store them in jars. Her family uses this to (among other things) re-listen to the live broadcast of old World Series games.
  • My Greatest Failure: Rocket went into seclusion on Autry's ranch for several years out of horror for accidentally injuring Bobbi Meeks while showing off his electrical control powers between books.
  • Nervous Tics: When Lester is nervous, his shoulders will twitch.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: An actual plot point of "Switch" where an unexplained magical event causes several family members (those living in a certain area) to unexpectedly lose their old Savvies and gain new ones.
  • Official Couple: Mibs and Will Jr.
  • Pest Controller: Autry's power is to control insects. He makes a living as an exterminator who doesn't kill the bugs, but simply gets them to follow him off the premises that want them gone.
  • Posthumous Character: The grandmother of the cousins is dead but is often mentioned.
  • Punk Rock: Nola Kim from the third book has has a punk appearance that might initially be mistaken for a Perky Goth and wants to be a rock star.
  • Road Trip Plot: Most of the first book has Mibs and the others traveling to the hospital where her father is.
  • Scatterbrained Senior: Mibs and Gypsy's paternal grandmother who doesn't have a savvy and is somewhat unhappy about her son marrying someone who had one is suffering heavily from dementia.
  • She's All Grown Up: Mibs is twelve in the first book, and a college-aged girl who gets engaged in the second one (with her slightly older brother Fish also getting married).
  • Shock and Awe: Rocket's savvy is electricity-based, which he mainly uses to power cars up and such.
  • Special Occasions Are Magic: Whenever someone belonging to a certain bloodline turns thirteen, they get their "savvy" (that is, their superpower). In fact, the thirteenth birthday of someone in a family with savvies is sometimes known as their "savvy birthday".
  • Surprise Incest: Teased but averted when Ledge finds out that his love interest has a Savvy and is the daughter of someone who played with members of his family as a kid, only to be told by Autry that they were just neighboring families and not related at all.
  • 13th Birthday Milestone: In some families, turning 13 is a big deal since that's the birthday that a person's "savvy" (that is, their superpower) activates.
  • Time Stands Still: Gypsy gets this as a new power in the third book, although lots of other people are immune to the effects and can move around while being aware that time stopped due to sharing a birthday with her.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Downplayed with Great-Aunt Jubilee, who has the savvy of opening locks and uses this to rob banks (the only clear example of someone with a savvy to do anything like that) but doesn't pose a threat to her family in any respect.
  • Unconventional Food Usage: In the sequel book Scumble, this is discussed when Ledge is mad at his Great-Aunt Jules, who goes back in time when she sneezes. He wants to dump pepper on her, so she'll sneeze and be sent way back in time.
  • Unreliable Expositor: In "Scumble," Grandpa tells the story of Eva Mae El Dorado Two-Birds Ransom, the first person to ever have a savvy, which have her the power to make gold grow under her feet. Autry later confides in Ledge that when he was a kid, Grandpa O'Connell claimed that the first person with a Savvy was a giant man named Bullthorn Johnson with the power to make Mountains, with it being strongly implied that one or both of them was an Invented Individual made up just for story-telling.
  • The Un-Reveal: It has yet to be revealed where the savvies come from, or what caused the Switch in book 3.
  • Waif Prophet: Gypsy is a somewhat short, delicate girl whose first savvy is seeing the future.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • Cam Beacham, the brother of SJ's mother and a childhood friend of Autry, doesn't seem to be around in the present day.
    • Ferris O'Connell, a great-uncle of the main characters is mentioned twice, and once owned the property that is now Autry’s ranch, but his present status is unknown.
  • Wham Shot: In Scumble when Ledge is looking through SJ's parents wedding photo, and sees that a tree that was only a little bit tall in one picture is fully grown in another, clearly just seconds later, and that Mrs. Cabot's maiden name was Beacham. This causes him to remember the words of his aunt, that trees don't just grow out ground "At least, not since we lost the last Beacham with any talent," causing him to realize SJ’s mother had a savvy and therefore she does too.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: In the third book, Del is being blackmailed by some bullies who have a picture of him trying on girls' clothes, the last of a long line of things he did while bored the first time Gypsy froze time when he could still move and everyone else was stuck.
  • Wonder Twin Powers: Marisol and Mesquite both have telekinetic abilities, but only Marisol can move things up and down, and only Mesquite can move them from side to side, requiring them to work together a lot.

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