The True Meaning of Smekday

Author: Adam Rex

Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 730L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary and middle school girls and some boys. (Some high schoolers might even get into it, Gratuity acts much older than her age.)

Reader's Advisory: For a book from the alien's point of view, read Dude, Where's my Spaceship? by Dan Greenburg.

Summary:
Gratuity "Tip" Tucci starts out writing about Smekday for a competition to have her essay included in a time capsule. Smekday is the day the Boov invaded Earth (now named Smekland). Tip has a special take on the events surrounding Smekday and the days that follow. Her mother was abducted before Smekday and the Boov implanted a glowing mole on her back to help them learn English and Italian from her. On Smekday, they take Tip's mother away in a ship and Tip is not sure if she will see her again. On Moving Day (the day the Boov tell all the Americans they have to move to Florida) Tip decides to drive herself instead of taking one of the Boov's pods. In the course of her journey, she meets J.Lo., a Boov hiding from his own people because of a terrible mistake he has made. Tip and J.Lo. arrive in Florida only to find that the humans have been relocated again, this time to Arizona. And the Boov are no longer the only aliens interested in taking over Earth (or Smekland).

My favorite passage:

"Fhf. Boovworld had once five million channels beforeto the Purging."
"The what?"
"The Purging."
"Purging."
"Yes. In the Purging, all channels but one were eliminatited, to prevents death of society."
"Oh. Yeah. People are always going on about how TV is going to ruin Earth, too."
"Is well proven. Let us say, after televisions are invented, that there is only then a few channels. Three or four. We will call them A, G, Semicolon, and Pointy."
"How about we call them A, B, C . . . and ABC."
"Whatevers. Let us now think of these channels as like four cups filled with eggs. Cup A holds inside News eggs, and Sport eggs, and Variety Show eggs. Cup B has News and Animated Story eggs and Situationally Comedic eggs. So on. More big cups are added because peoples want More Choices."
"Uh-huh."
"Soon it is noticed that between the cups there is room for smaller cups.
"These cannot hold much. Maybies there is one with only News eggs all the time. Maybies one with only Funny. But maybies Funny is your favorite sort of egg, so you like this cup.
"Then even smaller cups are made for inbetween the small cups and even smaller between those. The more cups, the more new gaps to fill. Every kind of show is invented. Shows like Pillowbusters! And What Are People Willing to Put in Their Mouths? Or The Week in Balancing, or Watch Out, Baby Animals! Cavalcade, Big Celebrity Poomps, Guy on a Table . . . lots of shows."
"So what was the problem?" I asked.
"It went out of control," said J.Lo. "Shows had to be recorded whilst even more shows were watched. Not enough time for seeing everything a Boov wanted to see, so some had to quit their jobs, or hires someone to watch for them,"
"Um . . ."
"Televisional scientists theorized a point into the future when each and everys Boov has his own show, and this show only shows him watching shows. So HighBoov decree: no more television but what the HighBoov say. And the HighBoov mostly say cooking shows." (pg 243-245)

What I really think:
This is one of those books where the main character (Gratuity) is supposed to be 11, but she acts a lot older most of the time. She drives, she looks out for her mother, she looks out for J.Lo., she saves the world from aliens, etc. I don't see a problem with this. Some 11 year olds do have to take care of their parents. And, most 11 year olds probably think they could drive or save the world from aliens given the chance.

In addition to being really entertaining, this book contains some smart social commentary. The Boov rename Christmas "Smekday," just like Christians renamed the holidays that existed before Christmas. The Boov designate small areas of land for humans and believe they are being generous. Sound like the early Americans and the American Indians?

If you read the book and want more Boov, check out this website: The National Time Capsule Project