Scumble

By Ingrid Law
Rating: 3 3/4 stars

This is a companion book to the award-winning Savvy.  As we discovered in Savvy, in certain families when a child reaches their 13th birthday, they get a "savvy" or magical talent.  It could be anything from the ability to can music in a jar to moving mountains to being able to read your mind if you have a tattoo.  When Ledge gets his savvy, he is dismayed that it seems to be the ability to destroy things, as anything metal or mechanical falls apart whenever he is nearby.  His parents leave him at the family ranch for the summer to see if he can work out how to control his new "talent."  While there, Ledge discovers a friend Sarah Jane, but it is complicated by her father trying to foreclose on everyone in town, including his uncle's ranch.  As Ledge struggles with his own abilities, he also finds that others are also struggling with their own demons, like his cousin Rocket.  Can Ledge pull everything together and help his uncle save the ranch at the same time?  An enjoyable fantasy that doesn't require reading of the first book to understand, but readers may well go back to read Savvy after finishing this one.