The True Meaning of Smekday
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- USD 7.99
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- USD 7.99
Publisher Description
Aliens have invaded Earth and instructed all of the humans to move to Florida. They landed on Christmas Day – now named Smekday, after the glorious leader of the Boovs, Captain Smek. Gratuity Tucci doesn't want to be shipped off to Florida in a rocketpod. She has a plan . . . Luckily Gratuity can drive – she nails tin cans to her shoes to reach the pedals. She had to learn after her mum was abducted by the aliens. So begins an epic journey with a brilliant girl hero, a cat named Pig and a friendly Boov who's taken the human name J.Lo, all determined to save the Earth from a much bigger threat . . .
This original, imaginative and wonderfully wacky sci-fi adventure inspired the major motion picture, HOME
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Who knew the end of the world could be so hilarious? With a misfit cast of characters led by a precocious 11-year-old narrator named Gratuity "Tip" Tucci and a bumbling alien named J.Lo who has an appetite for dental floss and air fresheners, Rex's high-octane fantasy could fairly be called an apocalyptic comedy. After the Boov (technologically advanced aliens) conquer Earth (or Smekland, as they call it, after its discoverer), they decide that humans must live on preserves; all Americans must move to Florida. Tip, driving her mother's car with her cat Pig for a passenger, meets the unexpectedly helpful Boov J.Lo, who, she later discovers, has bungled a mission and is on the lam. Parallels between the Boov and European settlers and their treatment of Native Americans deepen the impact of the story, but the author goes well beyond delivering a single political message. Incorporating dozens of his weird and wonderful illustrations and fruitfully manipulating the narrative structure, Rex skewers any number of subjects, from Disney World to various fleeting fads. Some of the best jokes come from throwaways and from J.Lo's and Tip's attempts to understand each other (when Tip asks if his society has boys and girls, he says, "Of course. Do not to be ridicumulous," and calmly lists the "seven magnificent genders" of the Boov). Picture book aficionados will already know Rex from Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and Pssst! (reviewed Sept. 10); now another audience can savor his wit. Ages 8-up.
