Savvy

"You never can tell when  bad thing might make a good thing happen. I realized that good and bad were always there and always mixed up together in a tangle." - Mibs from Savvy

Last night I hosted book club. It was fun to have so many friends there. We discussed a Newbery Honor book called Savvy by Ingrid Law. 

I gave a brief overview of the author and her take on the book. She felt that family was a very important theme in her books. She wrote a companion book to Savvy called Scumble from Mibs' cousin's point of view and she is working on a book about Mibs' little sister Gypsy. 

What do you think your savvy would be? Ingrid Law (the author) said hers would be flying or breathing under water. Our group chose more practical savvies like understanding people, traveling anywhere, cleaning and making people see your point of view. I chose being able to create anything and control water.

How was Mibs's family more complicated because of their savvies? We figured that they have the same problems as everyone else with the added concern of the savvies. It would still make life fun and interesting with all those different abilities around.

Everyone has a special know how. Lill Kiteley's was being late and helping people feel good. Lester's was following through. Kacey made good points about Lill being able to help. Maybe not exactly when she should have, but she would eventually get there.

We discussed the many voices that we are confront with every day. From the book - "I began to realized how hard it is to separate all the voices to hear the single, strong one that came just from me." and then in the end, "I'd grown used to all the voices inside of my head and knew which ones to pay attention to and which ones to ignore. The same went for all the voices outside of my head." Our voices become our children's internal voices so we need to be careful how and what we say to them.

What do you think makes Poppa up at last? (Can he talk?) We figured that Mibs reminded him what his savvy was. Also, we feel that he can only talk through his tattoo so Mibs needs to be there to translate.

Favorite parts - Kacey mentioned that she really liked the part where Mibs told Will Jr. she was not ready for kissing. She pretty much quoted it exactly, too. :)

Thanks for coming, ladies. Hope you enjoyed the banana cream pie. (And chocolate cream and kiwi lime, too.)

I shared quotes that I enjoyed from the book. Here are a few:

"I suppose you can never tell right off who might have a piece of Prince Charming deep down inside."

"When something like that comes along, whether it's an accident or a savvy or a very first kiss, life takes a turn and you can't step back. All you can do is keep moving forward and remember what you've learned."

"I couldn't fathom it myself, but I guessed that happy endings came in all shapes and sizes."

"You can't get rid of a part that makes you you and be happy."

"For better, worse, or different, sometimes when things go back to normal, normal simply isn't normal anymore."

P.S. I can't find my paper for hosting. We decided last month at Kacey's house. If you can fix the side bar, please do.

Out of the Dust

For the first time since January I was able to go to Book Club. (Thanks, Stacie!) We had a really good turn out (this time around), great conversation and yummy food.

The book was Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Stacie told us about the Dirty 30's and we will never think of that phrase the same. She showed us pictures of the Dust Bowl and we talked about Okies. She really made the book come alive especially pointing out that page 13 could be read in different ways and it was like a song. Beautiful! Kacey informed us that the book was written in free verse because the time the story was set in called for an economy of words as well as everything else. Stacie also pointed out that there is a point in the book when "my Daddy" becomes "Father" and then back again. 


We talked about the accident, Louise and Mad Dog. We talked about feeling dusty and grimy after reading it. I don't want to give away any major plot points, so I will let others enjoy it themselves. The main theme of the book according to the author is Hope. However, we agreed that Forgiveness was also.


Cinnamon rolls and apple cider hit the spot even in the summer heat.


Next month we have book club at Xela's where we get to talk with the author. We are reading Mother Had a Secret by Tiffany Fletcher. There are a couple of copies floating around, so everyone should have time to read it by the 4th week in June (the 22nd). Happy reading!

A View From Saturday

Our next meeting time will be the 4th Wednesday in January. We are reading whatever books we want and then will plan the year. Our discussion will be about heroines, who we like and dislike. Kacey gave a list of book suggestions:

True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

The Wolves at the Door (Female spies) by Judith L. Pearson

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Heidi also suggested:

Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman

Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth

Last night we were few in numbers because of the day change. It was the last time we meet this year, so that was sad. Still, we had a good discussion about the book. If you care to know about the author, go here.

We talked about one of the themes in the book being friendship and how Julian was knew who he was. We discussed the stupidity of the assistant superintendent and how Ethan's grandma was hard to figure out.

Some questions to consider:

How is friendship portrayed and developed?

Why is "The Souls" a good name for the group?

When (and how) does Mrs. Olinski become a Soul?

How are risks demonstrated? Are they willing?

What are qualities of a good team? Why are "The Souls" a good team?

Read the last page. What do you think it means?

Who did you relate to most?