The True Meaning of Smekday (Smek Smeries Series #1)

by Adam Rex, Adam Rex (Illustrator)

Overview

The hilarious, genre-bending novel from bestselling author Adam rex that inspired the blockbuster feature film Home — fully illustrated with "photos," drawings, newspaper clippings, and comics sequences.

When twelve-year-old Gratuity ("Tip") Tucci is assigned to write five pages on "The True Meaning of Smekday" for the National Time Capsule contest, she's not sure where to begin; when her mom started telling everyone about the messages aliens were sending through a mole on the back of her neck? Maybe on Christmas Eve, when huge bizarre spaceships descended on Earth and the aliens — called Boov — abducted her mother? Or when the Boov declared Earth a colony, renamed it "Smekland" (in honor of glorious Captain Smek), and forced all Americans to relocate to Florida via rocketpod?

In any case, Gratuity's story is much, much bigger than the assignment. It involves her unlikely friendship with a renegade Boov mechanic named J.Lo; a futile journey south to find Gratuity's mother at the Happy Mouse Kingdom; a cross-country road trip in a hovercar called Slushious; and an outrageous plan to save the Earth from yet another alien invasion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786849017
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/05/2009
Series:	The Smek Smeries , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Adam Rex is the multi-talented author of books for children, middle readers and young adults, as well as an accomplished illustrator. He has written such beloved picture books as School's First Day of School (illustrated by Christian Robinson), has created both pictures and words for favorites like Are You Scared, Darth Vader?, Nothing Rhymes with Orange, and Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich; and he has illustrated books by bestselling authors like The Legend of Rock Scissors Paper by Dreew Daywalt, Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem by Mac Barnett, and Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman. The True Meaning of Smekday was his first novel, followed by Smek for President! and other books for middle and teen readers. He grew up in Phoenix, got a BFA from the University of Arizona, and now lives in Tucson.

Editorial Reviews

"First-time novelist Rex has written an imaginative, wacky, hilarious sci-fi story that will appeal to fans of Eoin Colfer and Jon Scieszka. Lively cartoon-paneled illustrations are interspersed throughout and add to the fun. This is a fast-paced adventure with a whip-smart protagonist, a lovable and resourceful extraterrestrial, and plenty of social commentary."—School Library Journal

"The humor in this story is undeniably unique... the first half of the book is an entirely funny road trip of the Kerouac-meets-E.T. variety."—Kirkus Review

"[G]uaranteed to tickle the middle-school funny bone." —Booklist

"Adam Rex has created a book that is so snappy and fun and angst-giddy that you really can't put it down, because to do so would mean going back to the harsh-world reality in which you live and almost die. But reading a book this captivating is always worth the risk of being abducted by aliens with weak immune systems." — Jack Gantos, author of 2012 Newbery Medal winner Dead End in Norvelt

"This is a truly wonderful book about what happens when a girl named Gratuity and a cat named Pig join forces with an alien named J.Lo to try to save the world from another group of aliens who... Okay, it gets complicated. But trust me: it never stops being funny." — Dave Barry

From the Publisher

Parents want to know what I do as a librarian to get their kids to try something new. And the truth is—nothing. There is not much I can do, except wait along with them for The Book: a story so original, so absorbing and so laugh-out-loud funny that the minute I read the last page, I want to start at the beginning again. The True Meaning of Smekday is that book…This first novel by Adam Rex will captivate fans of the wordplay and characters in Terry Pratchett's Discworld and of the outrageously entertaining satire of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy…Although it's a book for children, adults will find this page turner, really a satire about the conquering of foreign cultures, entertaining as well. Its pacing and cadence make it a perfect story for reading aloud, and it's almost impossible to resist sharing great lines with people nearby.
—The New York Times

Lisa Von Drasek

Gratuity Tucci ("Tip" for short) has a problem. Aliens have invaded Earth, stolen her mother, and now she and the rest of humanity are being shunted onto small reservations while the invaders (the Boov) take over the rest of the planet. In avoiding this plan, via her family car, Tip runs across J.Lo, a renegade Boov with problems of his own. Together, girl and alien attempt to locate Tip's mother only to discover that an even greater alien threat is imminent. It's up to the two heroes to defeat the invaders, Boov and otherwise, and save the day. The humor in this story is undeniably unique, containing a skewed worldview that children will certainly enjoy. Yet while the first half of the book is an entirely funny road trip of the Kerouac-meets-E.T. variety, the second half slows down considerably. Rex has such a nice grasp of small tender moments amidst a world gone haywire, it's a pity the book wasn't pared down significantly. Inspired but problematic. (Fiction. 11-15)

Kirkus Reviews

Aliens called Boov have invaded the earth and forced all Americans to move to Florida. Instead of going by rocketpod like the others, 11-year-old Gratuity Tucci drives from Pennsylvania in her mother’s car with her cat, Pig. Along the way, she picks up a renegade Boov (with the earth name J.Lo because humans can’t pronounce Boov names), who adapts her car so it can float. A hilarious, heartwarming buddy adventure is born! On audio we are denied the cartoons from the book, but who cares when we have the spirited and talented Bahni Turpin? Turpin is a vocal genius. She can express any emotion, and her timing accentuates every satirical line. Most remarkable are the two completely distinct characters who constantly play off each other—the feisty, self-reliant Gratuity and the droll, lip-smacking J.Lo. A.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2010 - AudioFile