The True Meaning of Smekday is absolutely hilarious.  Much as I generally don't like any kind of science fiction, I never wanted this story to end.  I listened to the audio version so I apparently missed out on some great illustrations.  However, the audio version is so entertaining and won the 2011 Odyssey Award for Excellence.  The narrator did a terrific job with the voices of the many characters, including the aliens who definitely spoke in a different way.  It would be such a fun book to read with a class. 

 

The plot and character development are two areas I would have my students study.  There are some very definite divisions that would enable you to stop at natural places in the text to analyze how the plot is developing and how the characters' feelings are changing and adapting to circumstances.  There is the "background" plot in which Gratuity is writing for a school assignment.  This is referred to several times.  Then there is the overriding plot of the alien invasion and all the excitement that accompanies the invasion.

 



 

As the story begins, the aliens (the Boov) invade and take over Earth.  It is Christmas, which is renamed Smekday, after the Boov leader.  All Americans are told to go to Florida to live and the Boov will take the other 49 states.  Once the Boov discover Happy Mouse Land in Florida, they decide humans will live in Arizona instead.  The Boov have eight legs and no necks, as pictured above.  They eat all sorts of odd things - soap, dental floss, paper. 

 

Gratuity's mother is abducted on Christmas Eve.  Throughout most of the story, she is attempting to find her mother.  She is befriended by a Boov named J.Lo.  Together they go to Florida only to find out Gratuity's mother, along with all other humans, have been moved to Arizona.  But before they make it to Arizona, Earth is invaded by yet another alien force - the Gorg!  Once they reach Arizona, their task is to help rid Earth of the Gorg.

 

While guiding students through this story, I would also stop at key points and have a discussion or have students write about what they would do in specific situations.  For example,

• What would you do at the point Gratuity and J.Lo experience their first encounter?  Gratuity came up with a unique plan to deal with the alien. 
• What would you do when Gratuity and J.Lo find the group of boys hiding out beneath the haunted mansion in Happy Mouse Land? 
• What strategies can you devise to hide the fact that J.Lo is a Boov? 
• Would you be willing to climb into a teleporter in the hopes of being transported to another place?
• How do you feel about the ending of the book?  Would you have ended it in a different way?

 

There is a Smekday web site at smekday.com.  You can read an excerpt from the book on the site.  There is also a cute "Top 10" on it.  It contains the top ten reasons to read The True Meaning of Smekday.  It would be a good exercise for students to pair up and perform it as a skit, using the emotions and voices they believe the characters would have.  There are also some good ideas for a booktalk and discussion questions at http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-smekday.html.  

In 2014, the movie of The True Meaning of Smekday will come out.  I'm glad I read the book first because it is usually better than the movie.  However, I will probably be found in line for the movie with my grandchildren.  It just has to be entertaining!

I am currently listening to the audio version of The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex.  Generally, I prefer reading the book rather than listening to it.  However, this novel won the 2011 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production, which, obviously, is awarded to audio versions of books.  Because this I felt it was only right to listen to the audio version, which is contained on a collection of nine CDs.  At first, I considered abandoning the CDs.  This story is so not what I normally read!  Space/fantasy is not an attractive genre for me.  But I stuck with it and found myself actually enjoying the listening experience.  Because it is on CDs, I listen to it on my way to and from school each day.  Several times now I've found myself laughing out loud all alone in the car.

The story line is so, so silly, but I've actually begun empathizing with the main character.  Her name is Gratuity, but her friends call her Tip.  Gratuity's "Boov" friend is a funny sidekick for her.  Everything about this story is completely outrageous, but I know children will love it.  In fact, according to the reviews I've read, children are fascinated with it.  There is even a movie version coming out in 2014.  I might even take my grandchildren to see it!

The Boov are the creatures from outer space who have taken over Earth.  They have eight legs and eat strange things, such as dental floss.  After kidnapping Earthlings to teach them how to speak and become familiar with other human habits, they came to Earth themselves.  They travel in things that look like spools of thread and cultivate antennae farms.  Because they were taking over the United States, they told the humans they would all have to move to Florida and live there together.  The only good thing about that is "Happy Mouse Land."  That's where Gratuity and J-Lo, her Boov friend, are now.  They just found out that the Boov decided they wanted Happy Mouse Land and transported all humans to Arizona instead.

I will update more on this novel when I'm done listening.  I'll have to start taking the long way to work so I can get done with it sooner!  In the meantime, I've begun reading Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani.  I'm only 30 pages into it so I don't have enough of an opinion yet to write about it - more at a later date.