false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1237929187m/1194366.jpg 1194366 2 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. 1182420 10 10 2007 The True Meaning of Smekday total:671|5:295|4:252|3:97|2:19|1:8| 671 2820 1057 288 5 5 false false Fri Aug 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 02 07:25:41 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 02 07:34:54 -0700 2008
J-Lo, the alien chara...more...]]> 3 3 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 21:17:58 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 12 08:34:40 -0800 2007 very impressed with himself, and cracks himself up with how witty and clever he can be.

...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 14 06:12:23 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 15 18:25:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 08:53:20 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 09:24:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 01 14:44:00 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 08 11:32:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 04 16:31:12 -0800 2008 Mon Mar 17 17:40:00 -0700 2008
I think I'm going to memorize this line. And next time someone asks me a question I don't want to answer, I'm gonna hit 'em with the Boov.

Smekday is funny, silly, and entertaining. Gratuity/Tip...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Mar 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 05 19:08:52 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 16 22:56:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Mar 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 05 06:13:19 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 16 07:52:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 28 19:14:05 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 15 04:41:53 -0700 2008
Tip is an 11 year old girl, who after the invasion by the Boov of Earth, finds her mom kidnapped by aliens, ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Nov 30 09:05:15 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 20 19:19:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 15:21:46 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 16 11:01:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 17:41:12 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 17:44:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 11:12:42 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 17 10:37:04 -0800 2007
After renaming all major holidays, a group of aliens known as the Boov, politely ask the humans to relocate to Florida. Isn't that where they all go when they ge...more...]]> 4 0 false true Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jan 02 19:45:39 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 19:46:15 -0800 2009
Longer summary: All humans are forced to move to Arizona after the Boov take over Earth. In classic buddy fli...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 08:16:19 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 08:23:33 -0700 2009
I wish I had reviewed this back when I read it so I could do it justice. But this is excellent sci-fi for kids in the vein of older stories. In fact, some parts are direct homages to books like War of the Worlds. The great thing about reading this book and being liter...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 22:16:44 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 22:47:51 -0700 2009
Here's the deal: the Boov invade earth. The tell humans that they all have to move to certain parts of Earth so that the Boov can have the rest (Americans get to move to Florida) and they sign treaties to show they're serious about their promises. Only they end up li...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 05 12:11:58 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 12:12:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 21 05:49:39 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 19:30:00 -0700 2009
The middle does drag a little bit, but there are awesome characters and fantastic social commentary, and I am totally in love with the ending. Good s...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 18:30:36 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 16 10:45:30 -0700 2009 delightful book—one that manages to not only be engaging and funny, but also smart! How many young adult books are there that are really biting, clever satires on the colonisation of foreign cultures, race and ethnicity which aren't Books With a Moral? (Same goes for adult books, I suppo...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 13:06:13 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 16:01:49 -0800 2009
i don't know.

it's brilliant. the aliens have invaded earth, gratuity's mom is missing, and she has to get to to florida. only later, she has to get to arizona. plus, she's picked up a boov named j.lo who has an amazing toolbox and ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1194366