The True Meaning of Smekday

The hilarious, genre-bending novel from bestselling author Adam rex that inspired the blockbuster feature film Home -- fully illustrated with "photos," drawings, newspaper clippings, and comics sequences.

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 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.

Adam Rex is the multi-talented author of books for children, middle readers and young adults, as well as an accomplished illustrator. He has written such beloved picture books as School's First Day of School (illustrated by Christian Robinson), has created both pictures and words for favorites like Are You Scared, Darth Vader?, Nothing Rhymes with Orange, and Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich; and he has illustrated books by bestselling authors like The Legend of Rock Scissors Paper by Dreew Daywalt, Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem by Mac Barnett, and Chu's Day by Neil Gaiman. The True Meaning of Smekday was his first novel, followed by Smek for President! and other books for middle and teen readers. He grew up in Phoenix, got a BFA from the University of Arizona, and now lives in Tucson.