The True Meaning of Smekday

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

Earth has been invaded by aliens.  Under the command of Captain Smek, the aliens called the Boov have taken control of the planet, renamed everything after their great leader, and forced humans to move to remote locations.  In America, humans are given Florida, until the Boov discover they like oranges, so they are relocated to Arizona.  The main character, Gratuity Tucci, decides to drive to Florida and Arizona, and hopes to find her mother who had been abducted by the aliens shortly before the invasion.  Along the way, she gets a flat tire and a Boov by the name of J.Lo helps her by repairing her car, making it hover.  They set out on a cross-country adventure and wackiness ensues.

Essentially, this is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for kids.  It’s a mix of science-fiction, humor, and some light social commentary.  I’m not always the biggest fan of humor in science-fiction, however when it works, it’s great.  This book has moments that are just ludicrous, and it is very funny.  As J.Lo, our main alien character, discovers new things about Earth, and the English language, funny things just tend to happen.  He loves urinal cakes for a snack and thinks armadillos are awesome, and he finds it difficult to use American restrooms because the Boov have seven genders, not just two.  The book is long, over 400 pages, and the humor seems to fizzle out towards the end.  The author may have just run out of steam, or he was trying to make it more serious in the end.

There are more serious aspects to the book, with social commentary that is never heavy-handed.  My favorite moments were towards the end when Tip (Gratuity’s nickname) finally reaches Arizona and discovers how Americans are rebuilding.  Each city is run differently.  Phoenix is a military dictatorship.  The president is running a small farming community.  There are some fine citizens who think there should be clear lines dividing where each race can live.  “We need to start the new America out right” they say.  Seeing a culture rebuild itself after a major catastrophe always fascinates me.  What I love about this book is that the rebuilding is not the focus, so it never becomes overwrought and complicated.  It’s subtle.

The True Meaning of Smekday is a great, funny sci-fi book in the vein of Douglas Adams’ books.  It is essentially a road trip story involving a girl trying to find her mother.  Helping her along the way is an alien sidekick.  The humor is fun, never vulgar, but seems to run out towards the end, where it is replaced by a compelling vision of America compressed, against its will, into the state of Arizona.  The length could be too much for some younger kids, but the illustrations keep it accessible.  I would recommend it to fans of humor and sci-fi.

Airborn

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy aboard the airship Aurora, a dirigible filled with the lighter then air gas, hydrium. He yearns to move up in rank and become an assistant sailmaker, a person who attends and repairs the giant gas cells that keep the ship afloat, just like his deceased father. Matt’s adventure starts when he encounters an elderly balloonist in a dramatic midair rescue attempt. The balloonist eventually dies soon after confiding in Matt about strange creatures hereto undiscovered; creatures that live their whole lives in the open air. Six months later Matt encounters the balloonists granddaughter, Kate de Vries, on a trip to Australia, and discovers that not only does she share his curiosity about the mysterious creatures but plans on finding evidence of their existence. In the meantime Matt discovers he won’t get promoted because a young man of wealth and connection, Bruce Lunardi, has been placed as the new junior sailmaker. To top it off Matt and the airship encounter pirates and are eventually shipwrecked on a uncharted island that may hold the proof of the airborn creatures they’ve been looking for. But the island holds many dangers that will test their ingenuity, courage, and may hasten the end of their mortality.

This was an enjoyable novel that is in the tradition of old swashbuckler movies, and the works of Robert Louis Stevenson. The novel keeps a good balance between its action scenes and character development. The reader not only becomes invested in the plot, the predicaments (of which there are many) that the characters find themselves in, but also in the characters themselves, how they grow and change because of the situations they face. The only defect is that the novel slows down a bit in the middle, but it’s redeemed by a rousing, action packed conclusion.

I’d recommend it for anyone 12 and up, especially those who are interested in pirates and classic adventure yarns.