How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Like so many things, a savvy could take years to tame, and Momma and Poppa said the ups and downs of growing up only added to the challenge. (2.10)
Hearing something and learning it yourself are two different things. There are some lessons you have to actually go through, and cannot learn from other people's mistakes, which is totally the case when it comes to getting a savvy.
Quote #2
And while I was sure meat loaf could be a powerful thing, especially if it had a lot of ketchup and the onions were chopped up real fine, I knew that tonight, for the Beaumont family, meat loaf couldn't do squat. (3.17)
Losing innocence is unfortunately a final thing—once it happens there is no going back, and nothing that can make things as they were again. This is a moment when Mibs starts to learn real sorrow, and that life is not always as simple as we'd like.
Quote #3
Suddenly, as I looked at those teenaged girls in their teenaged clothes, I felt younger than twelve-turning-thirteen… I realized that I had just turned into a teenager myself, and there were more changes coming in my life that didn't have anything to do with my savvy. (6.16)
Life itself is full of change, and even though you have superpowers you still (unfortunately) have to go through puberty. This is where we see Mibs's first glimpse of losing her own innocence, and it's perfectly described—because you never are aware of your own innocence until it's gone.
Quote #4
I couldn't understand any of it. Nothing about what was happening felt right. What had happened to my savvy? (7.23)
We know that Mibs is currently lying to herself about what her savvy is. Might she be doing so in hopes of holding on to some of her innocence that she knows that she's lost?
Quote #5
If that angel hadn't been whispering in my head, telling me how Bobbi was just as nervous as the rest of us, I would've thought that she had no cares at all, that she was just a powerful sixteen-year-old-muscle. (9.2)
The benefit of losing innocence is that you gain knowledge in return, and that's what Mibs is seeing here: she's able to have new perspective on Bobbi, and then get a new understanding of Bobbi and why Bobbi is the way that she is.
Quote #6
But as I grew up, I began to understand that a savvy is just a know-how of a different sort. (14.6)
A loss of innocence can also be called a growing in understanding, since innocence is really just a lack of knowledge and experience.
Quote #7
"But I'll tell you a secret about sixteen… Sixteen can feel older and scarier than forty-two, which is what I am. I think Bobbi's just feeling sharp-edged right now, so don't you mind her." (16.15)
The knowledge that Bobbi's gained since losing her own innocence can have a major effect on a person—it can make them clam up, or become snooty and bossy, or even sad. That's why sixteen feels older than forty-two—you gain a bunch of knowledge really quickly, and don't yet have years to live with it.
Quote #8
Maybe some good would come from this big mess I'd made after all. (24.34)
For Mibs, this is a moment that shows how much knowledge she's gained, and how much of her innocence she has lost. Here Mibs is willing to admit to herself how much trouble she's caused, but isn't willing to let herself be depressed and unwilling to persevere.
Quote #9
I thought about her question for a long time… If someone had said those same words to me yesterday I might have shrugged them off. But a lot can change in a day. (25.58)
There's no set pace for losing innocence, and Mibs is totally right: a lot can change in a day.
Quote #10
When I walked out of that church in Hebron, I was running toward Poppa, but maybe—maybe—I was running away from something else. (26.12)
Being able to recognize one's own action is a sign of true growth. We think (to put it in blunt terms) that what Mibs was running away from was herself: her fears for her family, the changes that come with her savvy, and the knowledge and responsibilities that arrive when you become a teenager.