Summary:
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 aliens—called the 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?
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.
Review:
This one's suitable for readers a bit younger. It follows a preteen girl Gratuity (Tip) Tucci, as she recounts her tale of life after an alien invasion, as she tries to find her mom and avoid all the aliens wandering about...only to be stuck in the middle of a second alien invasion (apparently, Earth is pretty popular these days), and these new aliens...well...they're a lot less friendly than the last ones.
I absolutely loved this book. It's hilarious. It smacks of Terry Pratchett (one of my faves) and Tip is adorable, especially when she accidentally teams up with one of the (first) aliens, who happens to be named J. Lo (he's under the impression that this is a common name for an Earth boy, and he wants to fit in).
The interaction between Tip and J.Lo is awesome, as neither makes a whole lot of sense to the other, but they're all the other has at the moment.
If you like Terry Pratchett, you'll enjoy this one.
Me? I loved it. I've read it twice, and it's sitting around waiting for a third viewing.
5 Stars!
-geekgirl
On Amazon.com True Meaning of Smekday, The
On Goodreads.com The True Meaning of Smekday
Comments
Post a Comment