The True Meaning of Smekday

“A Book from Out of This World” Don’t judge anyone or anything just because they are different. You have probably thought of what it would be like if Aliens took over our planet. What would they look like? What would they do? Could we communicate? In the book The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, all of these questions are answered in Adam Rex’s imagination of what the Aliens are like. We learn that you should judge anything or anyone just because they are different than you. In this book, the Alien species, The Boov, land down on Earth and try to make ‘fair’ agreements with the human race. They decide to give the Americans all of Florida to live in. Gratuity Tucci, the main character, was living just an ordinary life as an 8th grader until her mom was taken by the Boov and brought to Florida. But when Gratuity was left and decided to drive there herself with her cat, she meets an new friend that could help her out a lot along the way. As some of you may know this book was created into a movie, Home. I️ really enjoyed this book and would definitely read it again. I gave this book 5 star for its humor, great descriptions, and it’s creativity. Adam Rex did a great job to add some of everything to this book without overdoing it. There was a lot of parts with humor in this book. Adam Rex worked in some funny parts while still making the book seem serious. This is shown on pages 87-88 where the text read, “ ‘Stupid Boov!’ I shouted, and then the scooter cop was right there.[....]‘It was French’ I said.” This part had humor because Gratuity convinced the Boov cop that she was complimenting his scooter. Another part that was funny was on page 66, “We lay there for a minute, staring at the roof./ ‘I could hum,’ said J.Lo./ ‘Shut up,’ I suggested.” This part was funny because Gratuity’s car broke down and she was really mad. Then J.Lo, Gratuity’s new friend, tried to break the awkward silence by asking if humming would help. In addition, this book had great description of the setting and characters. This really helped me imagine what was happening. On page 54-55 Adam Rex wrote, “As it turned out , the ship that took Mom was one of the little ones. There were ships the size of Rhode Island in the sky over my city,[...] At first they just hung there like jellyfish. But then the jellyfish began taking bites out of things.” This part in the book really helped me imagine the situation they were in. It also helped me imagine what the ships in the sky looked like. A second piece of evidence to help me understand the story with lots of details was on page 3 where the text said, “It was Moving Day, and everyone was crazy. You remember. It was chaos; people running around with armfuls of heirloom china and photo albums, carrying food and water, carrying their dogs and kids because they forgot their dogs and kids could carry themselves. Crazy.” This part really set the base for the story. It showed how the people reacted to the situation without directly telling us all the little details. It told us just enough to show us what it was like. Lastly this book is very creative. It really took a good imagination to come up with all the aspects of this story. It was very well thought out and it all fit very well together. This can be shown on page 169 when it describes the Boov’s God, “The God of Boovworld is not a person, or a ghost, or animal or such. Our God is the sea. she covers most of the planet, still creating and shaping the world.” This shows how they are creative because Adam Rex had to think of not just a God for aliens but also what their planet might be like. He had to combine all of these aspects to make something that fit well with the story. Another piece of evidence is on page 268 where the text described a robot sent from the other alien invaders the gorg, “It was some awful mixture of meat and machine, and I wasn’t at all surprised when J.Lo whispered that it was a robot sent by the gorg. It was green and purple all over, with a back end that formed a round cage.” This took a lot of creativity while it was still very descriptive. He had to create a robot sent from somewhere he had to completely make up. He described it very well to help the reader imagine what it was even though we have never experienced anything like it before. This was a fantastic read and I would recommend it to people of all ages. Though it may be better for younger readers to enjoy, I believe that even an adult could have a fun, interesting read from this book.

A plucky girl protagonist on a harrowing road trip. Gratuity is a great character, and an unusual one (mixed race background and a girl). She really stuck in my brain, perhaps because, to my delight, my daughter is like her in all the right ways. Even down the snarky humor, quick thinking, and deep friendships. We are beyond excited for the movie adaptation - and very anxious, also. Please, please, please with sugar on top, don't screw this up, DreamWorks. Signs are not looking very good with the previews - JLo the Boov is now "O" -- EVEN THOUGH JENNIFER LOPEZ IS IN THE FREAKING MOVIE. Sorry. Movies with Jennifer Lopez in them don't have a very good track record. I'm a little worked up. UPDATE (WE SAW THE MOVIE): Like most movie adaptations, the book is so much better than the lame, milquetoast adaptation. In a nutshell, the movie kept the main characters, and stripped out most of the good stuff -- the quirky charm, the scariness of an alien invasion, the inventive road trip storyline, and anything that might offend someone (like pissed-off Native Americans, mentioning Disney, using the right main character's name - J.Lo apparently did not want to sing for a movie where her name is used in vain, the general suckiness of AZ, etc.) No one goes to Australia in the book. If you are here to buy this book for your 5-8 yo that loved the movie -- whoa, Nelly! This book is not appropriate for younger kids and is aimed at the 8-12 market. Sure, it's light (occasionally) and funny (usually in a dark, cutting way), the Boov are fairly well-behaved invaders, and Tip is an awesome kid. But the book is also dark, has scary parts, some butt jokes, and let's just say the invasion in the book is not a big, bloodless, Boov party. And the Boov run away from the Gorg for a good reason. We are starting the sequel book, "Smek for President," tomorrow night. A book with Tip AND time travel?!? Why is it so short? I kind of want to move into it. Please, DreamWorks, stay out of this one!

Wonderful elementary and middle-school level book. Highly recommended. The protagonist is an eighth grader who has lost her mother to an alien invasion. The book takes the form of an essay being written by the girl to explain what Smekday really means to her... The winner will have their essay included in a time capsule to be opened 100 years in the future. So Gratuity ("Tip") Tucci begins her story. She's funny, witty, and mature, while still having the light-heartedness and hopefulness of a, well, a middle-schooler. She first goes into the "what happened"... then the "what next" when her teacher urges her to include more personal reflection. Tip, her alien (Boov) compadre, "J-Lo" and her cat all set out to first save themselves and then to save the world. It's light, fun, quick, and cute. It's original, thoughtful, and funny. Well-populated by a wide variety of characters with their own personalities, this book is a gem that I'm glad I've discovered! Definitely recommend for elementary (high level) and middle school readers looking for something new... FOUR of five stars.

This is genuinely my favorite book of all time. I bought it during my Home 2015 hyperfixation to read the actual book, and if you liked the movie, you will LOVE this book. So cool to catch all the differences between book and movie too!!!

An utterly fantastic, highly creative book that both my 9-year-old son and I loved. The story details the adventures of an 11-year-old African-American girl and a friendly alien as they search for the girl's alien-abducted mother on the way to the new subportion of America set aside for humans. The first section is the school essay on "The True Meaning of Smekday" written for a time capsule project, from which the book gets its name ("Smekday" was the date of Earth invasion by the alien Boov). Who can resist a heroine who, after aliens steal her mother, teaches herself to drive by nailing cans of corn to the bottom of her church shoes? Or her companion, who can fix almost anything but makes their car's air-conditioning useless because he can't keep from drinking the delicious freon? My son especially enjoyed the alien's illustrated stories of how the Boov learned to breathe air, how they made it to outer space, and the "Werefor You Knowing It?" (Did you know?) random factoids about a second alien race who has come to conquer the Earth as well. This book is very funny, both directly and via the use of satire and irony, and very absorbing. I finished it, went to see what else the author had written (he's an illustrator, and this is his first major novel), and then immediately began rereading it. My son and I still quote portions of the book at each other, several weeks later, and my husband is next in line to read this. I cannot recommend this enough, especially for fans of humor and/or fantasy. What a delightful surprise!

This book was a little darker than I expected in some places. An 11 year old narrator drops some heavy thoughts about the alien invasion, comparing it to the gas chambers of auschwitz, and ruminating over the fact that people must have been killed when the boov "disappear" things like the great wall of China. Overall, a relatively funny book though. Had some slow spots, but nothing that couldn't be pushed through. For readers who came to this book because of the movie, don't expect it to be anything similar, but do prepare to be pleasantly surprised as it does have its own, often very entertaining, story.

let me just say right off the top that i am 51 years old, not quite the target audience for this book but i LOVED every minute of it! i would not hesitate to gift this to young friends or old, it is enjoyable for any age group. i bought this book purely for it's title and it paid off in spades. very well written, the plot is exciting and layered, the device of our protagonist writing her story to future generations well conceived...she is spunky and smart, the alien j.lo amusing and adorable, the dangers huge and the solution ingenious. and can i just say how much i loved the illustrations and especially the comic book explanations of things alien!!! am going to look up other adam rex books and hope he has more like this or does more like this in future. i'm a fan! hooray for judging books by their covers/titles! (and please don't let disney make this into a movie...they will wreck it!!!)

I read Adam Rex's "The True Meaning of Smekday" with my two children (ages 11 and 13), and we could not wait to get back to the story every evening. This is a clever mixture of alien invasion fantasy and pre-teen adventure story, told from the point of view of a courageous, resourceful 11-year-old girl whose mother is kidnapped by aliens. The plot-line is original, the characters (both human and alien) are well-developed and memorable, and the author even manages to squeeze in the occasional moral paradox. But the feature that kept us coming back for more was Rex's unique sense of humor. Wise-cracks, crazy situations, unexpected alien irony, a refreshing take on contemporary American culture (how would an alien understand Disney World?), and quirky little alien history comics all combine to create a hilarious reading experience. One of the most entertaining books we've read in a long time. I'm not a big fan of sequels, but if Rex writes one, we'll be waiting in line to pick up a copy!

No esperaba recibir un rechazo de biblioteca. Me ha hecho gracia, pero habría preferido que tuviese las pegatinas en la contraportada porque la portada era mi motivo principal para buscar una edición vieja de este libro.

This book is good and nothing like the film. Took a while to read it but that wasn't a problem for me.

Was a gift

It is an awesome book for the ages 10 - 12. It is a must to buy this book. If you have seen the movie home then you will enjoy the book more.

Fun book with original concept. The movie "based" on this book has almost zero to do with the story ("Home"). The movie Home was dreadful, babyish and boring. The book is original, sophisticated, complex, and very very funny. I can't rate it high enough for kids and adults alike. Just plain fun.