Center for Teaching & Learning

Let me explain how Earth comes to be known as Smekland.  The leader of the Boov, Captain Smek, has an unfortunate habit of naming everything after himself.  One of these things is the day the Boov land here:  Smekday.  In this thrilling futuristic dystopia, eleven-year-old Gratuity Tucci writes an essay describing her side of the story when the alien race of Boov invades on Christmas Eve, 2011.  Gratuity’s mom, Lucy, is taken by the aliens to teach them how to speak human dialects and to fold the Boov’s many-legged suits.  On her quest to find her mom, Gratuity befriends an outcast Boov, J.Lo, who helps her build a flying car to assist them in their travels.  During the time they are on their hilarious cross-country trek, a separate race of aliens, known as the Gorg or the “Takers”,  invades Earth, hoping to conquer the Boov and seize the renamed “Smekland” for their own.  Gratuity,  J.Lo, and the cat, Pig,  must, as usual,  save the day.
I would rate this book a ten.  Adam Rex is witty, sarcastic, and his writing is heart-moving;  these are all of the qualities that captured my interest and gave this novel a place on my list of favorite books.   Wit, sarcasm, and emotions make a book compelling.   This book left me with that warm, fuzzy feeling you have after you watch a particularly good movie that leaves your heart warm and happy.  It is the same type of feeling you get after you know you’ve done something right,  like giving a little kid your candy.  During Gratuity’s adventures, she matures visibly and leaves you with questions that you have no answers for;  it left me wondering what happens next.
All through this book I was watching a movie in my head of Gratuity and her amazing adventures.  Adam Rex describes the scenes with just enough detail to have seats in the I-Max theater, but not so much you feel like you’re in the very front row where everything is in your face.  It leaves you dizzy with wonder because you feel as if you are in the book;  at the same time it puts you on the sensory level of an I-Max movie.  One example of this is when Gratuity and J.Lo are looking at the Gorg ship through the telescope with Beardo and the boys.  The exact image of the scene comes to mind as you read.   I sincerely enjoyed this inventive comedy.  I hope you choose to read it.
Sophia
Publisher:  Hyperion, 334 pages