Scumble Paperback – Illustrated, August 9, 2011

If you are obsessed with realism, "Scumble" is not your book. But if you like a tall tale as much as the next feller, then hold on to your hat and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle until the ride comes to a full and complete stop. Oh yeah, and you might want to remove any metal or mechanical accessories.Scumble, like its predecessor and companion book "Savvy", is a coming of age tale of a thirteen-year-old in a family "misfits" who each get a special and unique talent ("savvy") on their thirteenth birthday. The protagonist of this book is Ledger "Ledge" Kale, cousin of Mississippi "Mibs" Beaumont of Savvy fame. Ledge's talent is destroying mechanical things, which is unfortunate, as the family is trying to drive cross-country to get to his cousin's wedding.Needless to say, Ledge's savvy doesn't mix well with the wedding. But that itself wouldn't be such a problem, as the wedding is held at his uncle's secluded ranch and attended solely by people who either have their own savvies or are at least familiar and comfortable with the idea. Except for one person, that is. Sarah Jane "SJ" Cabot, the daughter of the man who happens to hold the deed to Uncle Autry's ranch and publisher of the "Sundance Scuttlebutt", stows away in the Kale's van, attends the wedding and witnesses not only Ledge's savvy in spectacular action, but also the savvies of other members of the Kale/Beaumont/O'Connell clan.Left by his parents at the O'Connell ranch to learn to scumble his savvy, Ledge must try to retrieve a special savvy object which SJ managed to abscond with and persuade the infuriating SJ not to publish his family's secrets, all while trying not to destroy every vehicle and structure in his path. Unfortunately, however, he is forbidden from seeing SJ because Uncle Autry doesn't want to anger her father Noble Cabot, who is trying to "protect" his daughter - from what or why, we're not really sure. Oh, and did I mention that Ledge also has rather wild twin cousins Mesquite and Marisol who use their levitation savvy to torment him, largely under the guise of "helping" him learn to scumble his savvy? Or that he's relegated to living in a concrete bunker far from the main house with his cousin Rocket whom he's convinced holds him in utter contempt? With what he has to contend with, it's amazing a single nut or bolt manages to stay in place anywhere in Crook County, Wyoming.Of course, in true Ingrid Law fashion, everything all comes together in a fantastical whirlwind of events. There's a saying something like, if a gun is described as hanging on the wall on the first page, it better have been fired by the last page. Ms. Law is a master of this. Casually mentioned facts and events have a way of popping up again at just the right time to tidy the tale into a neat packages with all loose strings tied up. To a reader who's been paying attention, much of this wrap-up is somewhat predictable, but it only adds to the fun to try to guess where the story is headed.Ms. Law herself has a savvy - the ability to make words dance on the page. Her use of alliteration, metaphors and similes make the book both visually and aurally delightful. Of course, even a well-scumbled savvy doesn't always work perfectly (unless you're Jenny Beaumont!) and some of the verbal contortions fall a bit flat, but most are witty and well placed. I could practically feel icy ants in soccer cleats marching across my own skin.If you liked Savvy, you'll like Scumble - they compare very favorably. I found Scumble a bit harder to get into, the characters a bit harder to get to know. I think that may be because the cast of characters is quite a bit larger in "Scumble", so it takes a bit of time to round them out. But the final dramatics in "Scumble" make it an even taller tale - and wilder ride - than Savvy. As in Savvy, Ms. Law tends to get a bit heavy-handed as an author - there are times she needs to learn to loosen up and trust her readers. Much of the last chapter, for instance, could have been left to savvy readers to understand for themselves - like exactly what it was that Rocket needed to learn about scumbling.But the minor flaws, such as they are, hardly detract from the overall impact of the book. "Scumble" is a rompin' read, and I recommend it to anyone - kid or adult - who's ever felt a bit out of place. It is truly our differences - no matter how seemingly negative - that when well-scumbled, give us our identity and our sense of belonging.

My reluctant reader loves this series. He is heading into the last book of the series and is both excited and sad that it’s drawing to its conclusion.

Ledge and his family are not normal. Ledge's mother as an awesome magical power that allows her to persuade anyone with her words. Ledge's uncle Autry can manipulate bugs and insects with his commands. Ledge's grandmother? She can trap radio waves inside a jar that can later be opened a tiny bit to let the music or whatever was caught in there play.Ledge's mother's side of the family always had the special powers they call "savvy" and it always came to them on their 13th birthday. The event was always unique, and was never forgettable. Ledge, however did not get any kind of an "obvious" power, and was kept in the dark until the family finally figured it out: taking things apart.Ledge practically blew things up. A watch, timer, lamp, and even a full sized barn house crumbled under his command. The only problems were thatA: breaking and destroying things are not at all a handy talentAnd B: he is not able to control his savvy, which leads to unwanted catastrophes.So, after causing even major troubles, Ledge's parents leaves him behind at the summer ranch to hopefully later return to find him fully scrumbling (read the review title. Scrumbling means to be in total charge and control of you savvy), and so that is how his summer adventure begins!I really enjoyed story, and mostly because it is a good fantasy novel and it talks about growing up, and learning to control your fears. It is a really good piece for book, and I am really looking forward to digging into "savvy" the original one.

The first book, Savvy, was a page turner for my 9 year old. She couldn’t stop reading it. This one took a while to get into. I would say the first quarter or so was slow and uneventful. She loved it as the story progressed and said she actually liked this more than Savvy. Just a heads up if your child wants to give up on the book, don’t! You’d be pleasantly surprised.

Let's start with the look of the thing first: I bought the hardcover edition of this book since I had received the first in hardcover and decided to continue the trend. The art of it didn't really impress me but I did like the insane, fantastical colors of it that brought back to mind the magically tinted world of the first book, Savvy. When I did receive the book I was more impressed than I was with the online picture- it was better once it was in my hands.Now: spoilers ahead. Lets start with Ledger. Ledger was gifted with a savvy that would have blown any other small 13 year old boy over with joy but instead of puffing up proud he shrinks into a ball of self pity, knotted over with an obsession to please others that felt really out of place. This didn't stop. For the majority of Scumble this is how Ledger stays. Sorry.My next big growl at this installment to the series is Sarah Jane Cabot. A more nosy, inconsiderate, unappealing and just plain pesky character I have not met. I was really upset with Ledger's fumbling around when just a few words to the right person would have ended all the grief (though obviously it ended up to be for the best in the end). It didn't help that the development of her character was severely stunted with her daddy standing between her and the rest of the world.What really brought me joy in this book was the reappearance of Rocket and the introduction of more of the family that took the edge off of Ledger's almost constant sulking. Now it's not all bad, this book ties in beautifully with Switch (the third in the series) and reading Scumble makes Switch all the better. This may be a weak second but the Savvy world has bigger, better things coming.

Of course, it wasn’t as perfect as Savvy, but it was good. I wished there was more about Mibs and her life. I also thought the plot was a little thin. The rich banker was foreclosing businesses to protect his daughter from odd people…. Seems a little drastic.

The book is ripped and penetrated from the cover all the way to page 21.The kid is very disappointed.