Friday, December 5, 2008

Savvy

(Oldest and her best friend are guest posting today while I am slowly recuperating. They are both 9 years old and in the fourth grade.)

Hi again! This is Oldest. Today I have a very special treat! At least it was for me! My Mom bought me the most awesome book called Savvy by Ingrid Law. Me and my best friend read it and loved it and then my Mom said we could interview Ms. Law by email and that was so exciting! So first we will provide our reviews. Mom said to call my best friend Hiccup for this post cause she thinks it is funny. This is funny but we don’t approve. Mom said too bad because this is her blog.

Hi this is Hiccup and I absolutely adore books and I love to read! Let me tell you about this wonderful book that Ms. Ello gave me to read! The book is called by Savvy by Ingrid Law. Mibs Beaumont is a 12 year old girl who is about to get a savvy but before that day, her Poppa gets into a terrible accident and goes to Salina hospital, so her mother and her oldest brother, Rocket, goes to Salina Hospital but Mibs, Samson, her younger brother who is seven years old, Fish, her second oldest brother, Bobbi and Will who are the preacher's grandchildren all want to go to Salina so they ride on a bus that goes to Salina but it starts to go away from Salina, not near Salina! Will Mibs ever see her Poppa again?! I loved this book!!! I think that it was extremely exciting!!! I was smiling whenever I was reading this book!

Oldest – You forgot to tell them what a savvy is Hiccup! And Mibs real name is Mississippi! Her family is not like regular people. They get a special power on their 13th birthday which is called a Savvy. It is a magic power like her grandfather can move land around and her older brother has electric powers. It is so cool.

Hiccup – So cool. I want a savvy where I can fly.

Oldest – Me too. I want a savvy where I can fly and be invisible.

Hiccup – Invisible while flying?

Oldest – Well, yeah. But also be invisible even when not flying.

Hiccup – That’s 2 savvies. You can only pick one. And I already picked flying.

(We interrupt this post for a 10 minute argument on why you can or cannot have more than 1 savvy and how it may or may not be cheating.)

Oldest – Anyway, we got to write a letter to Ms. Law and she answered our questions!!! So here is our interview!

Hi Ms. Law! Thanks so much for letting us do an author interview with you. We are really excited and we have lots of questions! My Mom bought me your book Savvy and Hiccup and I both read it and loved it! Your book absolutely rocks! I think it is one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. It was exciting, funny, and fun.

Hiccup: I loved this book!!! I think that it was extremely exciting!!! I was smiling whenever I was reading Savvy! It was the first book I ever read like this. I'd recommend this book to all my friends.

Oldest and Hiccup: We love your book and hope you write more books about Mibs.

Ms. Law: Hi Oldest! Hi Hiccup! Thank you so much for your wonderful, thoughtful questions. It's great to know how much you both enjoyed reading Savvy.

Oldest: Our first question of course is how did you get the idea for savvies?

Ms. Law: Savvies are about fifteen percent magic, twenty-five percent super powers, and sixty percent “fish-story” talents. I like to think of the story in Savvy as a modern tall tale.

Hiccup: How long did it take you to write Savvy?

Ms. Law: I wrote Savvy between January and May of 2007. After getting a publishing contract shortly after, I then worked on revising the book for my editor for another few months. So, altogether, it took about eight or nine months.

Hiccup: What is your favorite part of the book?

Ms. Law: I love the end . . . and the beginning . . . and everything in between! It’s hard to decide on a favorite part, but I do like the scene in the pool and the scene in the diner with Ozzie as well.

Hiccup: My favorite part is when Samson bit the great Ozzie's leg. I can still hear him scream. I couldn't ever do that because I'd be too scared. But it's really funny though. It is nice to hear bad guys have punishments.

Oldest: That’s my favorite part too! When I read that part I could almost heard a little girl scream in my mind.

Oldest: Would you want a savvy and if you could have a savvy what would it be?

Ms. Law: I like to answer this question in three parts. First is my dream savvy, which would be to fly or to breathe under water. Second is my silly savvy, which is that I knock things over and spill things a lot—I’m really very clumsy. And third is my real, everyday savvy, which is that I smile a lot.

Hiccup: Flying is cool.

Oldest: So is being invisible. And see she picked 3 savvies so I can pick 2 too!

Hiccup: What inspired you to write your book?

Ms. Law: I wanted to write a story about magical children that never used the word ‘magic’ and one that was set in out-of-the-way places in the United States—no big cities or fancy towns. I wanted to show that extraordinary things can happen anywhere.

Oldest: How does the story relate to you?

Ms. Law: In the book, Mibs needs to learn which voices in her life are important to listen to and which are not. Sometimes it’s easy to let the voices of criticism and doubt get fixed in your head. But it’s important, especially when writing, to listen to and trust your own voice.

Oldest: I really liked the part when Mibs talked to Miss Mermaid. That part was really meaningful to me. How did you come up with the characters? Especially Mibs. Is she like anyone you know?

Ms. Law: Mibs isn’t based on anyone I know. But as I wrote her story, she became more and more real to me. Sometimes characters come to life on their own.

Oldest: Mibs is one of my favorite characters. Her and her brothers are so cool! I cannot wait to read more about Mibs and her family!

Hiccup: I like Mibs because she's serious and adventurous too.

Oldest: How did you come up with Grandpa Bomba's savvy and the idea that they live in Kansaska-Nebransas? And do people realize they live in a new area? How would people find them on a map?

Ms. Law: Grandpa Bomba’s savvy is one with the most “tall-tale” feel to it. Even his own family knows he’s exaggerating when he claims to have created the entire state of Idaho on his thirteenth birthday. Kansaska-Nebransas was just a fun extension of the idea that Grandpa can create “all new places.” People probably can’t find it on the map. But that would be okay with the family. They need to keep their secrets!

Hiccup: What is your favorite kind of character?

Ms. Law: I love characters with a lot of heart and characters who are still trying to figure themselves out.

Hiccup: What are your favorite books?

Ms. Law: There have been many books that have been my favorites over the years. The most recent is A Crooked Kind of Perfect, by Linda Urban. One of the earliest was Charmed Life, by Diana Wynne Jones.

Oldest: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Ms. Law: No. But I have always had stories in my head. I guess you could say that I’ve never outgrown make-believe and that writing stories is just another way of pretending.

Oldest and Hiccup: When will your next book be out and will it be about Mibs and her family?

Ms. Law: I don’t know the publication date of my next book yet because I still have to finish it! Hopefully, it will come out at the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. The next book follows a new main character, telling the story of Mibs’s cousin, Ledger Kale, as he tries to figure out his own life after turning thirteen. This story takes place nine years after Savvy, but don’t worry! Even though Mibs’s journey is over, there will still be a few familiar characters along the way.

Oldest: Oh no! We won’t get to read about Mibs anymore!

Hiccup: But we will still get to read about savvies at least.

Oldest: Yeah, that’s good.

Ms. Law: Thanks for being such great fans. Take care and happy reading!

Oldest and Hiccup: Thank you Ms. Law!!! We think your book rock n rolls! Thanks for writing such a great book.

So that concludes our interview with Ms. Law. We hope you enjoyed it. We highly recommend that you run out and buy Savvy by Ms. Law right away. It is an awesome book!

22 comments:

JaneyV said...

Wow Oldest and Hiccup - you did a really great job with the interview. I'm all intrigued about Savvy (the book) and Savvies in general. I think my 11-year old daughter would love this. Thank you both for the review and interview.

Kimbra Kasch said...

Great Job - Hiccup...and Oldest!

If I could have a savvy, it would be to anticipate things before they happened. Like to stand in front of the right elevator when you are in a hall filled with 8 doors - you'd be standing right in front of the first one to open. Or picking lottery tix... well, you get the picture.

J. L. Krueger said...

Oldest and Hiccup,

Great interview...so when are you going into the writing business?

I'd agree with Kim on the savvy choice (anticipating things before they happen). I won't elaborate on why. Ask your mom, I'll bet she knows (Hint: Has to do with where I am). :)

Angie said...

That was a fun interview! I don't usually read author interviews unless I know the author, and sometimes not even then [grin/duck] but I read this one and enjoyed it quite a lot. Good job!

Angie

Tyhitia Green said...

Great interview and review, Oldest and Hiccup!! :-D You guys rock!!

Tyhitia Green said...

P.S. And I'm sooo buying this book for my little cousins. It sounds wonderful. :-)

Charles Gramlich said...

Great interview. I sure wish I had some savvy.

Stuart Neville said...

Well done, Oldest and Hiccup. I almost wish I wrote children's books so you could interview me!

Anonymous said...

thank you guys so much for the wonderful comments! i'm sure hiccup will be pleased! xoxoxo
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
from,
Summer Oh

laughingwolf said...

oldest and hiccup, you ladies rock, yourselves

great interview, questions and review

and thank you ingrid law for
playing along :)

laughingwolf said...

forgot: get well soon, ello

Travis Erwin said...

If I ever write a book for kids I want Hiccup and oldest to interview me.

Larramie said...

Oldest and Hiccup I know that you both already share one savvy -- the power to entertain, inform and make adults smile while reading your writing. And just think, you're sure to gain more savvies when -- or even before -- you turn thirteen!

Also, if I could have a savvy, it would be to climb into my computer monitor and physically travel anywhere I wanted to go in cyberspace.

McKoala said...

Great book review and interview!

But next time...how about some gossip about your Mom? You must have some stories...

Jacqui said...

Lovely review and interview, Oldest and Hiccup. I loved Savvy too!

Anonymous said...

Thanks again, Oldest and Hiccup!

It was very fun answering your questions.

I think it's definitely okay to have a combination savvy! After all, it's YOUR imagination.

:)

Ingrid

Anonymous said...

It's so nice to read a review and interview by the next generation of journalists. You did a great job. I loved Savvy, too - I like to think we all really do have savvies -- both the kind that we can show the world, and the kind we find in our imaginations as a source of creativity. I personally have dozens of savvies -- I bet you two do, too -- never stop looking for them! :)

John Kauffman said...

Thanks for a great review Oldest and Hiccup. I'm going to suggest this one to my oldest.

Nandini said...

This is so amazing. Congratulations Eldest and Hiccup - you did a wonderful job! I have to get Savvy for my 9 year old.

Mary Witzl said...

Good job, girls. In fact, I can hardly think of what to write here as I ponder how many savvies I'd like to have. At the top of my list is getting my class full of teenagers to listen to what I'm saying -- and maybe my kitchen floors to clean themselves.

Spy Scribbler said...

Awesome interview, Hiccup and Oldest! You guys sure know how to make an author interview fun!

Thanks for doing it!

Unknown said...

Brilliant interview, guys, you did an excellent job! Now I want to go out and read Savvy!