First Sentence of 'Savvy' Inspired Ingrid Law's Newbery Book

I've always been fascinated by the marking of milestones. I'm the type that looks for some sort of glorious transformation when experiencing an important event, like the chiming of midnight on New Year's Eve – or even buying a new car that is not a minivan. But these moments tend to pass, like so many others, and life resumes its same old familiar routine. Thank goodness for Ingrid Law. With her Newbery Honor book Savvy (Puffin, 2008), she took the ordinary passage from 12 to 13 and made it electrifying. Then she followed it up with the equally extraordinary Scumble (Puffin, 2010).

In Ingrid's books, 13th birthdays are the moments when a "savvy" hits for the members of the Beaumont family. Grandpa's savvy power is that he can move mountains. For one brother, it's the power to cause hurricanes. For another, he can create electricity. On the eve of Mississippi "Mibs" Beaumont's 13th birthday, her father is involved in a car accident and winds up in the hospital. Mibs is convinced she'll get a savvy that can save him. And she sneaks onto a rickety old bus and heads out on an odyssey of sorts enroute to the hospital to help.

Scumble takes place nine years later, and it involves Mibs' cousin, Ledger. His savvy is that he can destroy anything, so he's been sent to a Wyoming ranch to learn to deal with his new powers while making sure nobody outside the family uncovers the Beaumont family's secrets.


Question: Where did the idea for Savvy come from? What was the spark that made you sit down and begin writing?

Ingrid Law: I knew I wanted to start a new book, but I didn't know what I wanted it to be about. I did know I wanted to push my creativity to its limits and to make the voice of the book quirky and unusual. So the first thing I decided to do was to sit down and write the first crazy sentence that popped into my mind without thinking too hard. Without judging. I wrote: "When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland, because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he'd caused it." It's still the very first sentence of the book! I think that sentence was magical.

Q: Can you talk about your creative process: How did you choose the savvies that each child receives? What was it like to dream up their particular powers? Are any of them powers you personally wish you had?

IL: I like choosing powers for my main characters that help them grow and learn in some way. Sometimes I think of savvy talents as metaphors for all of the crazy changes that start to happen for kids when then become teenagers. Other times a savvy talent might be a quirky exaggeration of a real-life talent. Mibs has to learn to regulate the voices in her head, real and imagined. Ledge learns that sometimes, when things fall apart, the broken pieces of a thing can be put back together in a different, more meaningful way. Grandma Dollop cans radio waves – my grandmother canned jam and peaches. Rocket is electric. . . mostly because writing about an electric character was fun. Samson is a savvy-powered introvert, able to build up stores of strength whenever he becomes invisible – strength he can share with other people whenever he chooses to reappear.

If I had a savvy, I'd wish for the ability to clone myself. Then two of me could be writing, two of me could be reading, one of me could be at the movies, and another me could be washing the dishes.

Q: Savvy was your debut novel, followed quickly by Scumble. Had you been writing for a long time before you began these story ideas? Or did these characters appear fully formed in your mind, and you had to race to keep up?

IL: I wrote off and on for 15 years before I tried submitting my work for publication. But the ideas for my "savvy" books were fresh and new when I began writing them in 2007. I hadn't written anything quite like them before. Sometimes writing is a giddy race to keep up with wild and wonderful ideas. . . other times, it's a meditation on patience and waiting for the right ideas – the really good ideas – to find their way into my imagination. Sometimes it's hard to be patient. It's easy to call such times "writers block," when really, perhaps, such times should be called "incubation" instead.

Q: You received a Newbery Honor right out of the chute with Savvy. How did this impact your world? What effect, if any, did it have on your writing life?

IL: A couple of years ago, I was on a panel titled: Newbies and Newberys, the Wows and Woes of Winning a Newbery Honor for Your First Book. I was joined by Kirby Larson and Jenni Holm. Originally, Cynthia Lord was going to be on the panel as well. I think the title of the panel says a lot. It was, of course, a thrilling, amazing, jaw-dropping experience to earn such an honor for my first book. But the award also took a toll on my writing life by setting the bar very high from the get-go. I used to worry about that bar a lot. But I'm learning to let go of all that and get back to writing for the sheer joy of creating a fun and compelling story, rather than worrying about awards and reviews and comparisons. Yet, it is nice to know that because of that shiny silver sticker, young people will be reading my book for years to come.

Q: You followed up Savvy with the equally delightful Scumble, whose cast of hilarious and outrageous characters is as long and satisfying as Savvy's. Was it natural to return to the Beaumont family and further explore its particular "gift"? Are they living, breathing members of your own family now? Will it be hard to ever step away from this remarkable world you've created?

IL: I do feel very attached to my characters – particularly Ledger, the main character in Scumble. I just love that kid! The world of savvy families I've created is very warm and welcoming to me; it's an easy world to return to again and again. I hope readers feel the same way.

Q: What do you hope young readers take away from your writing?

IL: With the "savvy" books, I hope that young readers can find inspiration to be themselves, to be the unique individuals they were born to be, and to value the innate talents that belong to them, whether those talents come easily or require a lot of hard work.

Q: What's ahead for you? What can your fans hope to see next?

IL: I'm working on a third "savvy" book now, starring Gypsy Beaumont, and focusing on her 13th birthday. Gypsy was 3 years old in Savvy and 12 years old in Scumble. Now it's her turn to have a savvy birthday. I'm such a perfectionist, I think I'm getting slower with every book I write, but I'm really loving this one a lot right now, so I hope my readers don't mind being patient with me a little longer, while I try to make Gypsy's coming of age story the best it can be.

When Irish Eyes are Reading: Tomie dePaola's St. Pat's Books

We might as well go ahead and declare Tomie dePaola a national treasure. He's been writing for children for more than 40 years now, illustrating about 250 books and authoring about 100 of them. His best-known titles are the 11 books in the Strega Nona series, for which he won a Caldecott Honor, and the 26 Fairmount Avenue series, for which he won a Newbery Honor. Aside from being able to boast that he's sold more than 15 million books, Tomie can also claim a wall full of accolades.

His work has earned him a Smithson Medal from the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1999, he was honored with a Living Treasure Award from New Hampshire's governor. And the biggie to beat all biggies, in 2011 he was given the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his "substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children."

His most recent titles, Let the Whole Earth Sing Praise (Putnam) and Strega Nona's Gift (Nancy Paulsen Books), were published in 2011. Not bad for a storyteller who will turn 79 this September.

With all the celebrating of his Italian heritage in Strega Nona and other titles, it might be easy to forget that Tomie dePaola's other half is Irish. And it's those books that are in the spotlight this week as we approach St. Patrick's Day.

When March 17th rolls around, teachers, librarians, and parents scan the bookshelves in search of good books to share for Ireland's big day. And Tomie's books are among the best: Fin M'Coul, The Giant of Knockmany Hill (Holiday House, 1981) is a rip-snorting example of Irish folklore and witty storytelling. His Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland (Holiday House, 1994) gives a wonderful history of the man behind the holiday, blending Irish superstition with Catholic tradition. Also not to be missed are Tomie's stories from his grandfather, the adorable Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1997) as well as Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2002).

Question: What inspired you to tap your Irish roots and write Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, the Jamie O'Rourke books, and Fin M'Coul?

Tomie dePaola: When Strega Nona was chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book, my Irish American mother said to me, partly joking but ultimately serious, "OK, honey, enough with the Italian. Don't forget you're half Irish." There's nothing like a mother's "nudge" to get the creative juices going.

Irish folktales that are suitable for younger children are literally few and far between. There tends to be a lot of whiskey involved, especially in the tales I researched. (Yeats collected many such folktales.)

I found the stories of Fin M'Coul to be the most child friendly. But doing what a good storyteller is supposed to do, I was able to find funny incidents in a handful of other tales. I then created a typical Irish character directly stolen from my Irish grandfather's stories that he loved to tell me when I was a child. (My English/Irish grandmother referred to these stories as "your" grandfather's lies.)

Hence, the Jamie O'Rourke stories. I can still hear my grandfather's voice saying, "Jamie O'Rourke was the laziest man in all of Ireland."

St. Patrick was a no brainer. I was already doing the lives of saints that I found interesting, and Patrick was a prime candidate.

Q: While your Italian and Irish heritage is clear in your writing, you have also tapped into other cultures and traditions in many other books – from Adelita, A Mexican Cinderella Story to The Legend of Bluebonnet. What do you hope to accomplish with the books you write? And what do you hope young readers take away from your books?

TDP: It's natural that I'd be interested in other cultures because as a child I found out how exciting it was to be the child of two different cultures, Italian and Irish. That sent me reading everything I could of other people's worlds. That stayed with me as I grew.

The only thing I hope to accomplish with my books is to "grab" children's interest, inspire them to be excited about things, to laugh and maybe even cry. In short, to truly touch their lives.

Q: One hundred years from now when readers talk about your books, what do you hope is said about you?

TDP: I just hope 100 years from now, there are books, and mine are among them, and people, especially children, like them.

Amy Timberlake Hits the Target With 'One Came Home'

Author Amy Timberlake's interest in birding comes through in her latest middle-grade novel, One Came Home, out this month from Knopf. Set in the town of Placid, Wisconsin, in the 1870s, 13-year-old Georgie is a straight-shooting girl – both with her rifle and her mouth. And that mouth is the reason her big sister, Agatha, takes off with "pigeoners" tracking the massive passenger pigeon migration. When the sheriff turns up with an unidentifiable body that's wearing Agatha's teal ball gown, the town assumes the worst. Everyone, that is, except Georgie.

This is not Amy's first rodeo – she's the author of the middle-grade That Girl Lucy Moon (Hyperion, 2006), which was a 2007 Amelia Bloomer Book, and the picture book The Dirty Cowboy (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003), winner of a Golden Kite Award and Parents Choice Gold Medal.

Question: One Came Home is set in Wisconsin in 1871. How did you come to settle on this place and time period?

Amy Timberlake: 1871 Wisconsin found me more than I found it. See, I'm a birder. I was reading A.W. Schorger's The Passenger Pigeon – minding my own business so to speak. This was a scholarly tome written in the '50s, and I wasn't expecting to find a novel in it. But then I turned a page, saw a map of Wisconsin, and covering a large swath of the map was this "nesting" in 1871. The historian said it was one of the largest passenger pigeon nestings in recorded history. I'm from Wisconsin, and this was news to me. I was stunned – absolutely stunned. Why didn't I know about this? That's when I knew I had to write about this. And when you add in the tumult of a billion crow-sized birds whizzing around at 60 mph – well, that seemed like a perfect setting for a story. Doesn't it sound good to you? I mean, it's like something out of science fiction, except it actually happened.

Q: The protagonist, Georgie, is deeply devoted to her sister, Agatha. Can you speak to sibling relationships and what you wanted to convey in the telling of their story? What did you draw from in your own life?

AT: I do have a younger brother, and I do love him. In kindergarten I brought him as my "show and tell" item. Yes, he was my favorite possession, as only a younger brother can be to an older sister. Man, he was a good sport!

In the book, I did want to explore the transition sibling relationships make as the siblings grow up. There comes a point where you've got to let your sibling be themselves and accept them for who they are.

Q: A memorable part of One Came Home involves passenger-pigeon migration and the massive scope of these birds' flight – sometimes spanning 10 miles at a time and blackening the sky. How does this play in the story and why?

AT: It's a setting – a living, breathing setting. Once you've got such a dynamic setting, suddenly there's a lot of material to comment on. It helps develop the characters too. Both Agatha and Georgie take a keen interest in the natural world, but in opposing directions: Georgie takes to hunting, and Agatha is a self-taught naturalist. In addition, the nesting draws all those "pigeoners" (pigeon hunters)  too. And then there's the compromises that the nesting forces on all of those that live near it – the noise, the pigeon dung, etc.

Q: Does One Came Home have an environmental message? Is Georgie at heart an environmentalist? Agatha too?

AT: If you write a historical story where an extinct species plays a prominent role, the absence of that species in the 21st century echoes – there's nothing that can be done to avoid it. What I mean is that as a 21st century reader, you're reading One Came Home knowing the birds are never coming back.

Depiction of passenger pigeon hunt, 1875. Wikimedia Commons.

But as the author, I did not want to write a "message" book, or an "environmental" book. One Came Home is first and foremost a Western, an adventure, and it's also got a mystery tucked in there for fun. It is enough – I think – to write the passenger pigeons into the book and let that speak for itself.

I also tried to be careful to not put 21st century thoughts in my characters. (I may not have always succeeded, but I did try.) Agatha's interest in the natural world is based on people from the 19c. In addition, all of my characters would be well-versed (literally) in biblical teachings about respecting life from the Christian tradition, so I let that guide me. Neither Georgie nor Agatha would call themselves an "environmentalist."

Am I an environmentalist? Sure. On a personal level, one of the questions I am grappling with is how we deal with animals that impact our human lifestyles. For instance, what do we do about grizzly bears, polar bears, cougars, and other large animals that need huge swaths of land to roam in? Are we ready to give up land? In the case of climate change (which impacts lots of animals) are we willing to make changes? These are changes that are uncomfortable at a personal level. They require sacrifice.

No one (and I'm including myself here) likes sacrifice . . .  I don't have any answers here, just that I'm not seeing anything in 21st century American life that suggests we'd be ready to welcome back something as tumultuous as the passenger pigeon. It's like we no longer possess the flexibility and tolerance for wild-ness – we need the natural world to be exactly as we want it to be. (On second thought, maybe we never possessed this tolerance. We've spent significant chunks of our history trying to tame Wilderness.) Still, I want to hope that I can change myself and that I can learn to take all the inhabitants of this world into consideration as I make choices. Legislation is part of this too, but it seems like it's gotta happen on the ground before it'll happen in Congress.

Q: What themes and messages do you like to explore in your writing? What ideas do you want to bring up for young readers to consider in their own lives?

AT: Readers are the ones that get to decide about themes and messages (I think). But I'd like it if kids read One Came Home and, as a result, started thinking and talking about extinct species. This'll lead them to thinking about animals that are threatened with extinction, which will lead to questions, and questions will lead (I hope) to good things.

Jacqueline Kelly, author, MD, and Newbery Honoree

Photo courtesy of Macmillan

When Newbery season rolls around, we can't help thinking about our favorite books and personal picks. In honor of one of the top prizes in children's literature, we interview Jacqueline Kelly, recipient of a 2010 Newbery Honor for her debut novel, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate.

Calpurnia Virginia Tate is one of the most memorable characters to come along in children's literature in years. The only girl out of seven children, Callie Vee, as she is known, spends the sweltering days in her sleepy Texas town down by the river with her grandfather. With the story set in 1899, Callie Vee is expected to thrive in the domestic arts – needlework, cooking, playing the piano. Her mother has high expectations. But Callie would much rather be finding answers to questions about the world around her –about the grasshoppers on the lawn, about a mysterious plant, about a book called Origin of the Species. Callie finds an unexpected accomplice in Granddaddy, a naturalist, who happens to have his own copy of Charles Darwin's infamous book. As the year winds down, Granddaddy helps Calpurnia see how much their world is changing – and that new and exciting opportunities await her in the brand new century.

Question: You have a medical degree as well as a law degree, not to mention a Newbery honor under your belt as well. You must have an inquisitive mind and a passion for learning and doing. Is Calpurnia you?

Jacqueline Kelly: I either have an inquisitive mind or else I get bored easily and have to move on to something else. Yes, Calpurnia contains a lot of me. I would say she is about 60 percent me, about 30 percent my own mother, and about 10 percent various friends of mine. (I'm fortunate to have a funny mother who is nothing like the character of Mother in the book.)

Q: What inspired you to write the story of a girl coming of age in 1899? 

JK: The entire book was inspired by a huge old Victorian farmhouse that I bought in the little town of Fentress many years ago. Maybe it's because we moved houses frequently when  I was growing up, but I love old ancestral family houses and the sense of living history within them. I love looking at old photographs from a hundred years ago and thinking about what kind of lives the folks depicted in them must have lived.

Q: Of all places to set your book, why in the parched little town of Fentress, Texas? 

JK: I fell in love with the house, which had sixteen foot ceilings and was flooded with light. It could have been in any little town in any state, and I would have reacted to it the same way.

Q: Calpurnia is more than just a 'tween butting heads with her mother. She  is an inquisitive young girl who wants to understand what she sees happening around her. She wants to experience life and things that interest her, not just satisfy outdated expectations of what others think she should be. What do you want your readers – especially young girls – to take away from Calpurnia's character?

JK: I want young girls to realize that it was not so long ago that they would not have had much to say about how they lived their lives, and how important it is that they guard their independence. I want them to know that their grandmother's grandmother didn't even get to vote. How quickly things changed for women in the twentieth century. Thank goodness!

Q: You are also the author of Return to the Willows (Henry Holt and Co.), a sequel to The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, that came out last year. Can you talk about your writing life – when do you have time for it? Do you still practice medicine? How much time are you able to devote each day to writing? And what will we see next from you?

JK: I practice medicine part-time, a few hours per week. A good writing day for me is 3-4 hours in the morning while I still have caffeine coursing through my veins. I wish I could write every day, but unfortunately I can't right at the moment. I hope this will happen in the future. I am working on a sequel to Calpurnia that is about Callie and her younger brother Travis. No idea yet when it will be published.