Although it's a bit long for a read-aloud, I can't help but think kids would roll every time J.Lo opens his mouth. Especially if I could get my Latka-from-Taxi voice down just close enough. That's what J.Lo sounds like in my head: Latka. With a touch of Stitch, of "Lilo &" fame. J-Lo, the alien character is charming, and I wish he could be my own friend. Rex put a lot of emotion into that lovable squat fireplug, and my only "J-Lo" related dismay is that while readers of this book might know that J-Lo named himself after a popular earthen star, hopefully making himself more acceptable to the people he would soon conquer, lots of OTHER people (here I speak of foolish non-readers of this book) might get the wrong idea of ME, Paul Tobin, when I'm out in public and suddenly say, "Boy, I really like J-Lo!"

All the while she’s driving her hovering car Slushes across the country, keeping her cat Pig and her best friend JLo out of trouble (or at least keeping them all together as they get IN to trouble), and figuring out how to save the world. stars. This book was such a hoot! (No, I didn't see the movie.) I've been meaning to read this book for ages, and when I stumbled across the audiobook narrated by Bahni Turpin (I'm a big fan of her work), well, it was a no-brainer. On "Moving Day", when all humans are required by the Boov to relocate to Florida, Tip evades being transported by the Boov, and instead drives the family car to Florida in search of her mother. When the car breaks down, Tip reluctantly joins forces with a fugitive Boov mechanic who had taken the name J.Lo, thinking it to be a "common Earth name." Tip learns that the overly-friendly J.Lo was fleeing from his fellow Boov because, while modifying radio tower antennas for Boov use, he had accidentally transmitted a strong test signal in the wrong direction. The signal gave away the Earth's location to the Gorg, a violent alien race who had previously conquered the Boov's home planet.This book is actually a very very long essay written by Middle School student Gratuity Tucci for a contest, the winning essay of which will be placed in a time capsule to be opened in 100 years - in 2113. In it, Gratuity (Tip to her friends) describes the invasion of the Boov and the subsequent relocation of all humans to Florida (and then to Arizona, as the Boov decide they want Florida for themselves). Tip's mother was taken by the aliens early on, and so 12-year-old Tip takes her cat and drives (yes, drives) off in search of her. Early on, she meets up with a stray handyman Boov, who reengineers her car to fly. Gradually, Tip and the Boov, who calls himself J.Lo, become uneasy friends and allies, as they avoid the Boov, meet all sorts of strange humans, and then find themselves dealing with an even more fearsome set of aliens, the Gorg. Von Drasek, Lisa (November 11, 2007). "Me and My Alien". The New York Times (Sunday Book Review). Archived from the original on 2016-10-28. urn:lcp:truemeaningofsme00rexa:epub:2435ab5b-be10-40be-9e8c-0ebc833337f8 Extramarc UCLA Voyager Foldoutcount 0 Identifier truemeaningofsme00rexa Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t8v990q4m Isbn 0786849002 DreamWorks Animation (September 9, 2012). "New Distributor Twentieth Century Fox Unveils DreamWorks Animation's Release Slate Through 2016". DreamWorks Animation (Press release). Archived from the original on October 12, 2013 . Retrieved September 10, 2012.

The whole thing SEEMS ridiculous when framed as this over-the-top, hilarious alien invasion by a people who can’t even decipher pig Latin, and that’s kind of the brilliance of it. It’s not at all subtle about anything and there’s no room for misunderstanding, and yet it is so fun. It’s a freaking work of art, is what it is. Gratuity is an incredible character who is navigating not only alien invasions, but racism and sexism too. More than once she’s accused of being bossy (once by a pair of the most obnoxious boys we’ve all met), and people’s racial assumptions almost cost her the search for her mother. She also makes friends with Chief Shouting Bear (aka Frank) who has no shortage of racism to deal with himself. It was announced on June 20, 2012 that Tim Johnson was set to direct the film, with Rihanna and Jim Parsons voicing the lead roles, and the film would be released in fourth-quarter 2014. [5] Chris Jenkins and Suzanne Buirgy would produce, and writers Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember were signed to adapt the novel into a screenplay. [5] The title of the film was announced as Happy Smekday!; the project was retitled Home a year later. [5] [6]The conversations between Gratuity and J.Lo were far and away my favorite part of the book. They're funny enough reading silently, but read them aloud, and I just start to giggle like a... silly giggling thing (nods to Georgia Nicolson). I particularly enjoyed reading random bits of dialogue out loud to my family, who always laughed and looked at me like I was a Boov. "WHAT are you READING?" was usually the next thing to escape their lips. >smurrfle< Still makes me giggle. Mezclado con el ensayo que escribe Tip, hay imágenes y cómics hechos por el Buv que nos cuentan parte de su historia, de cómo llegaron a la tierra y de los malvados Gorg que desean apoderarse de Smeklandia. Creo que Adam Rex hizo un trabajo fenomenal con la amistad que surge entre Tip y J. Lo. Este alien es de lo más divertido, encantador y me inspiraba ternura. So to make a long story longer, I'm here now and I chose The Real Meaning Of Smekday as my first official book of the year. Considering the movie title and the fact that in the book all Americans were sent by the Boov to Arizona, I think it was an appropriate choice. This is a 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 suppose.) Set in 2013, it follows eleven-year-old Gratuity Tucci, her cat Pig and a renegade alien called J.Lo who set off across America in an attempt to save the world from the alien Boov, and from another, even scarier enemy. Along the way, there are encounters with New Age UFOlogists in Roswell, elderly Native-American men who pointedly defy stereotypes and point out white liberal hypocrisy, and a wryly amusing look at what it means to conquer and be conquered.

This is such a wonderful representation of what humanity would do if our world was invaded by aliens. Most of them go along with it, but several just don't budge. And that, I feel, is so accurate to humanity. Tip is the coolest and the most determined kid and yet still acts exactly like some of the eleven-or-twelve-year-olds I know in my life. Just like "ok, guess i'm going to florida by myself because i'm not getting in that giant ship they want me in" and I love that about her. Who knew the end of the world could be so hilarious? With a misfit cast of characters led by a precocious 11-year-old narrator named Gratuity “Tip” Tucci and a bumbling alien named J.Lo who has an appetite for dental floss and air fresheners, Rex's high-octane fantasy could fairly be called an apocalyptic comedy. After the Boov (technologically advanced aliens) conquer Earth (or Smekland, as they call it, after its discoverer), they decide that humans must live on preserves; all Americans must move to Florida. Tip, driving her mother's car with her cat Pig for a passenger, meets the unexpectedly helpful Boov J.Lo, who, she later discovers, has bungled a mission and is on the lam. Parallels between the Boov and European settlers and their treatment of Native Americans deepen the impact of the story, but the author goes well beyond delivering a single political message. Incorporating dozens of his weird and wonderful illustrations and fruitfully manipulating the narrative structure, Rex skewers any number of subjects, from Disney World to various fleeting fads. Some of the best jokes come from throwaways and from J.Lo's and Tip's attempts to understand each other (when Tip asks if his society has boys and girls, he says, “Of course. Do not to be ridicumulous,” and calmly lists the “seven magnificent genders” of the Boov). Picture book aficionados will already know Rex from Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich

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. This is a book about colonization and cultural appropriation that predominantly features People of Colour as the main characters.