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True Meaning of Smekday, The | 
 enlarge | Creator: Adam Rex
Publisher: Hyperion
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $8.46
You Save: $8.53 (50%)
New (5) Used (8) from $6.92
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 696295
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.5
ASIN: B00196PD9M
Publication Date: October 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new! Beautiful! May have a small remainder mark (ink mark) along the edge. gift quality, crisp, clean, multiple copies available, prompt shipping, excellent service.
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Book Description
It all starts with a school essay. 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 the 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. Fully illustrated with "photos," drawings, newspaper clippings, and comics sequences, this is a hilarious, perceptive, genre-bending novel by a remarkable new talent.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
The True Meaning of Spectacular! August 23, 2008
This book is truly amazing and I will always count it as my favorite science fiction story. If you are considering buying this book, you should. It is both hilarious and memorable, and you will probably find yourself dreaming of it and waking up to hungrily devour more of it. I simply could not put it down and I agree that this story has no age limit. Kids and adults might interpret it differently, both they both will love it. The True Meaning of Smekday is full of witty dialogue, takes at pop culture and famous people (Jennifer Lopez and Chelsea Clinton, for example), and wonderful illustrations. Some of the pictures in this book are comic book style. The others are pretend newspaper clippings and photographs from Polaroids. I discovered this book on a trip to the local bookstore. I opened up the front flap and read the product description. I was a bit confused when I got to the part about the mole (Aliens sending messages through a pimple. What's up with that?) I put it down and my attention was drawn elsewhere. I forgot it existed, really. I would not of read one of the most magnificent books EVER if on the faithful day my dad decided to purchase new books for me the book I had selected turned out to be not at all what I thought after reading an exerpt. It was terrible. I turned away and out of the corner of my eye, The True Meaning of Smekday twinkled serenely. I proceded hesitantly to read an excerpt which I found quite marvelous. Forgetting the fact I originally had not been atracted towards the book, I found myself dashing to the cash register as fast as I could. After reading it, I sat for a while, shaken from such a powerful read. I plan to make a landing tarmac in my backyard for the Boov ships. Just kidding! Enchanting and emotional, The True Meaning of Smekday will grasp you and never, ever let go.
The True Meaning of Spectacular! August 23, 2008
This book is truly amazing and I will always count it as my favorite science fiction story. If you are considering buying this book, you should. It is both hilarious and memorable, and you will probably find yourself dreaming of it and waking up to hungrily devour more of it. I simply could not put it down and I agree that this story has no age limit. Kids and adults might interpret it differently, both they both will love it. The True Meaning of Smekday is full of witty dialogue, takes at pop culture and famous people (Jennifer Lopez and Chelsea Clinton, for example), and wonderful illustrations. Some of the pictures in this book are comic book style. The others are pretend newspaper clippings and photographs from Polaroids. I discovered this book on a trip to the local bookstore. I opened up the front flap and read the product description. I was a bit confused when I got to the part about the mole (Aliens sending messages through a pimple. What's up with that?) I put it down and my attention was drawn elsewhere. I forgot it existed, really. I would not of read one of the most magnificent books EVER if on the faithful day my dad decided to purchase new books for me the book I had selected turned out to be not at all what I thought after reading an exerpt. It was terrible. I turned away and out of the corner of my eye, The True Meaning of Smekday twinkled serenely. I proceded hesitantly to read an excerpt which I found quite marvelous. Forgetting the fact I originally had not been atracted towards the book, I found myself dashing to the cash register as fast as I could. After reading it, I sat for a while, shaken from such a powerful read. I plan to make a landing tarmac in my backyard for the Boov ships. Just kidding! Enchanting and emotional, The True Meaning of Smekday will grasp you and never, ever let go.
For story-lovers of all ages August 21, 2008
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. "Smekland" is the renamed term for Earth, and "Smekday" was the date of Earth invasion by the Boov.
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!
A plucky girl protaganist on a harrowing road trip. August 19, 2008
Let me start by saying I am 40 and I loved this book. I was a little surprised to get a chapter book - I was expecting a picture book for some reason. I have a 4-year-old girl that loves her books. Can't wait to read this one with her (you know, I mean I _have_ to wait cause she's 4 and it's a book about alien invasion, but I know she'll love it in a few years.) I am even breaking my read-it-and-donate-it rule to keep it on ice for awhile. Gratuity is such a plucky, clever heroine. I enjoyed her journey and wish the author could figure a way to slip her into another book.
A novel with equal appeal for kids and adults August 11, 2008
It all starts as a school assignment. Eighth-grader Gratuity Tucci (known to her friends as Tip) is assigned to write a story about the "True Meaning of Smekday" as part of a national contest. The winning story will be buried in a time capsule, to be unearthed a hundred years in the future, in the year 2113.
It turns out that Smekday is actually Christmas, the day when a race of aliens (known as the Boov) invaded Earth (which they renamed Smekland after their leader), destroyed its most famous and valuable landmarks --- from the Statue of Liberty to the Great Wall of China --- and forced its inhabitants to resettle in small colonies while the Boov themselves took over the rest of the world.
It also turns out that Gratuity, more so even than the rest of the human race, has a vested interest in the meaning of Smekday. Gratuity's mother had actually been abducted by the Boov months before the invasion. While on the ship, she was tested on her language ability and on her talents at folding laundry. After her abduction, Gratuity's mom was never quite the same --- especially when she got sucked up into an alien ship on Christmas Eve, just before the main invasion began.
Gratuity also has a personal relationship with the Boov, or, rather, with one particular Boov who has named himself J.Lo. J.Lo is on the run from the other Boov for accidentally broadcasting their whereabouts to a particularly nasty brand of aliens, the Gorg. When Gratuity, who has decided to drive to Florida (the location of the American human colony), runs into J.Lo, the two join forces to escape from the other Boov and the Gorg alike. As the two drive cross-country, they rely on their limited shared language, on comic book drawings and on their growing friendship to cross the bridges between their cultures. The result is a road trip as riotously funny as it is bizarre --- and it's a trip that readers will willingly tag along on.
Adam Rex is best known as a picture book artist and illustrator. The clever humor he uses in his picture books is certainly abundant in his debut novel as well, as is his talent at drawing --- the book is illustrated with hand-drawn "photos" from Gratuity's journey, as well as by J.Lo's amusing cartoons detailing the history of the Boov, among other things.
In addition to being a wild road trip story and a completely original take on alien invasion, THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY also manages to include satirical (but surprisingly insightful) commentaries on everything from global warming to the state of Texas ("Who ever thought a state that big was a good idea? It's just arrogant.") to Walt Disney World to the resettlement of the Native Americans after European colonization.
Combine these social commentaries with plenty of action, a mission to save the world and a resourceful alien whose naiveté and know-how are both on display, and you have a novel with equal appeal for kids and adults. In fact, the best idea yet is for parents and kids to take this road trip together --- it's a journey you won't soon forget.
--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
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