Scumble (Beaumont Family, Book 2) [Hardcover]

Ingrid Law (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 17, 2010 | Age Range: 8 and up | Lexile Measure: 900L (What's this?)

Nine years after Mibs's Savvy journey, her cousin Ledge has just turned thirteen . . .

But Ledger Kale's savvy is a total dud--all he does is make little things fall apart. So his parents decide it's safe to head to Wyoming, where it's soon revealed that Ledge's savvy is much more powerful than anyone thought. Worse, his savvy disaster has an outside witness: Sarah Jane Cabot, reporter wannabe and daughter of the local banker. Just like that, Ledge's beloved normal life is over. Now he has to keep Sarah from turning family secrets into headlines, stop her father from foreclosing on Uncle Autry's ranch, and scumble his savvy into control so that, someday, he can go home.

Starring a cast both fresh and familiar, Scumble brilliantly melds Ingrid Law's signature heart and humor with the legendary Wild West.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 4-7–In this rollicking companion novel to Savvy (Dial, 2008), nine years have passed since Ledger Kale's cousin Mibs turned 13 and began her magical experience. Since he was a young boy, Ledge knew his family was unlike others, with each member gaining an unusual and often unpredictable power, called a savvy, upon turning 13. He hoped that his would enable him to be supersonically swift and race marathons with his dad. Unfortunately, it seems just to entail breaking things. When the Kales travel to Wyoming for a wedding, Ledger's newly found savvy wreaks havoc upon the ceremony and its guests and levels the barn on his Uncle Autry's farm. The disaster has an unwelcome witness, Sarah Jane Cabot, daughter of a wannabe-reporter and local businessman. As Ledge's savvy grows by monumental and ever more destructive proportions, his family decides that he needs to stay on his uncle's farm until he learns to scumble (control) it, and he fears he'll be condemned to stay there forever. Ledge's need to scumble is a race against time before Sarah Jane figures out the family's peculiar secrets, or her father follows through with foreclosing of the family farm. Law's vibrant storytelling and cast of likable characters will keep readers hooked throughout. The title stands alone in its fast-paced plot with twists and turns galore, and readers familiar with Savvy will eat it up and wish for more.Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This companion to Newbery Honor Book Savvy (2008) provides the same high level of satisfying plot, delightful characters, alliterative language, and rich imagery. In this story, Ledger Kale’s thirteenth birthday arrives with the traditional family inheritance of a particular “savvy”—a power unique to each individual, who must then learn how to manage his or her new talent. At first it seems that Ledge’s savvy is one for destruction: “I could blow stuff apart without a touch, dismantling small things in bursts of parts and pieces: a light switch here, a doorknob there, garage door opener, can opener, Dad’s stop watch, his electric nose-hair trimmer too.” But during a summer visit to the Flying Cattleheart, Uncle Autry’s Wyoming ranch, Ledge learns to tame, train, and deploy his power to good ends as he struggles against 13-year-old Sarah Jane Cabot, an aspiring reporter looking to expose the family’s secrets, whose businessman father is trying to foreclose on the ranch. Other characters include Ledge’s safety-slogan-spouting seven-year-old sister Fedora, levitating twin cousins, and Grandpa Bomba, who is comforted in his last days by sweet music, preserved in old peanut-butter jars, from his long-dead wife. While adult readers will see this all as a beautiful conceptualization of the drama and metamorphosis of adolescence, younger readers will delight in the tall-tale tropes and Ledge’s authentic physical, emotional, and artistic challenges. Grades 5-8. --Francisca Goldsmith

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Dial; First Edition edition (August 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803733070
• ISBN-13: 978-0803733077
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

2009 Newbery Honor winner, INGRID LAW, is the New York Times Bestselling author of Savvy, and its new companion novel, Scumble. Ingrid is a fan of words and stories, small towns and big ideas. Born in New York, Ingrid's family moved to Colorado when she was six years old. Now the mother of a teenage daughter, Ingrid still lives in Colorado, where she is working on new projects and trying her hardest to keep at least one plant alive.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What's your Savvy? September 5, 2010

By J. Prather TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This author must have a Savvy for writing great children's books, as once again she offers up a great story that combines all the elements of realistic fiction with a dab of fantasy all wrapped up in a huge amount of heart. I loved Savvy and this is an excellent companion, although they both do well as stand alone works. Once again, Law has created a character that every youngster age 9 to 14 can easily relate to. Ledger has been waiting a long time to get his Savvy, and on his 13th birthday he is fully expecting something terrific. Above all, he doesn't want to disappoint his father, who dreams of Ledge becoming the world's fastest runner. Well, things don't really work out that way, and Ledge finds himself spending the summer at his uncle's farm trying to learn how to "scumble" this strange new power. Ledge's search for balance in his life makes for a truly unique coming of age story.

This book has tons of humor and also some gut wrenching moments as Ledge figures out how to literally put himself back together, help save his Uncle's farm, and say goodbye to a much beloved grandfather. This is not a book that relies on lots of action, although there is some to be had. What keeps these pages turning are all the wonderful characters and the odd situations in which Ledge keeps finding himself. This is a solid recommend for elementary and middle school readers who like their stories told with a hint of whimsy, a lot of fun, and maybe even a tear or two.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children January 2, 2011

By Yana V. Rodgers

Format:Hardcover

Ledger Kale belonged to a family with an unusual secret: whenever someone turned thirteen years old, they would begin to exhibit some special talent or power. As a runner, Ledge dreamed his thirteenth birthday would bring extraordinary speed to his running, but he had no such luck. Instead, he gained an uncontrollable ability to disassemble mechanical appliances, gadgets, and fixtures. The more agitated and confused he became, the worse the damage.

After visiting Uncle Autry's Wyoming ranch for a family wedding, Ledge's parents decided it might be better all around if mom and dad were to return home to their jobs while Ledge stayed out of harm's way in a gadget-free dwelling on his uncle's property. Little did they realize the quandaries that Ledge would get himself into, including several altercations with the town's most powerful property owner. Mr. Noble Cabot was forcing local business owners left and right to go into foreclosure, and his next target was Uncle Autry's ranch. Adding to the complications, Mr. Cabot had a disengagingly charming daughter who seemed to set off Ledge's destructive savvy in unpredictable ways.

This companion novel to Ingrid Law's prize winning Savvy incorporates an interesting set of economics lessons related to property rights, foreclosure, and entrepreneurship. Gaining familiarity with all the characters can take a little time, but after doing so the reader is in for an enjoyable mix of humor, adventure, and family drama.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Liked Savvy better . . . October 1, 2010

By Cathe Fein Olson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

My daughters and I loved Savvy and were excited about Law's new book Scumble. I had a hard time sticking this with this one though. I found it hard to empathize with the main character, Ledge. His poor me, everything I do is wrong, everybody hates me act that went on chapter after chapter felt tedious after a while. The book picked up toward the end and had an exciting conclusion, but I wish the road to get there had been a little more compelling.