--- product_id: 177266400 title: "The True Meaning of Smekday" price: "€ 24.98" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pt/products/177266400-the-true-meaning-of-smekday store_origin: PT region: Portugal --- # The True Meaning of Smekday **Price:** € 24.98 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The True Meaning of Smekday - **How much does it cost?** € 24.98 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pt](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/177266400-the-true-meaning-of-smekday) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description 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. Review: A Book from Out of This World - “A Book from Out of This World” Don’t judge anyone or anything just because they are different. You have probably thought of what it would be like if Aliens took over our planet. What would they look like? What would they do? Could we communicate? In the book The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, all of these questions are answered in Adam Rex’s imagination of what the Aliens are like. We learn that you should judge anything or anyone just because they are different than you. In this book, the Alien species, The Boov, land down on Earth and try to make ‘fair’ agreements with the human race. They decide to give the Americans all of Florida to live in. Gratuity Tucci, the main character, was living just an ordinary life as an 8th grader until her mom was taken by the Boov and brought to Florida. But when Gratuity was left and decided to drive there herself with her cat, she meets an new friend that could help her out a lot along the way. As some of you may know this book was created into a movie, Home. I️ really enjoyed this book and would definitely read it again. I gave this book 5 star for its humor, great descriptions, and it’s creativity. Adam Rex did a great job to add some of everything to this book without overdoing it. There was a lot of parts with humor in this book. Adam Rex worked in some funny parts while still making the book seem serious. This is shown on pages 87-88 where the text read, “ ‘Stupid Boov!’ I shouted, and then the scooter cop was right there.[....]‘It was French’ I said.” This part had humor because Gratuity convinced the Boov cop that she was complimenting his scooter. Another part that was funny was on page 66, “We lay there for a minute, staring at the roof./ ‘I could hum,’ said J.Lo./ ‘Shut up,’ I suggested.” This part was funny because Gratuity’s car broke down and she was really mad. Then J.Lo, Gratuity’s new friend, tried to break the awkward silence by asking if humming would help. In addition, this book had great description of the setting and characters. This really helped me imagine what was happening. On page 54-55 Adam Rex wrote, “As it turned out , the ship that took Mom was one of the little ones. There were ships the size of Rhode Island in the sky over my city,[...] At first they just hung there like jellyfish. But then the jellyfish began taking bites out of things.” This part in the book really helped me imagine the situation they were in. It also helped me imagine what the ships in the sky looked like. A second piece of evidence to help me understand the story with lots of details was on page 3 where the text said, “It was Moving Day, and everyone was crazy. You remember. It was chaos; people running around with armfuls of heirloom china and photo albums, carrying food and water, carrying their dogs and kids because they forgot their dogs and kids could carry themselves. Crazy.” This part really set the base for the story. It showed how the people reacted to the situation without directly telling us all the little details. It told us just enough to show us what it was like. Lastly this book is very creative. It really took a good imagination to come up with all the aspects of this story. It was very well thought out and it all fit very well together. This can be shown on page 169 when it describes the Boov’s God, “The God of Boovworld is not a person, or a ghost, or animal or such. Our God is the sea. she covers most of the planet, still creating and shaping the world.” This shows how they are creative because Adam Rex had to think of not just a God for aliens but also what their planet might be like. He had to combine all of these aspects to make something that fit well with the story. Another piece of evidence is on page 268 where the text described a robot sent from the other alien invaders the gorg, “It was some awful mixture of meat and machine, and I wasn’t at all surprised when J.Lo whispered that it was a robot sent by the gorg. It was green and purple all over, with a back end that formed a round cage.” This took a lot of creativity while it was still very descriptive. He had to create a robot sent from somewhere he had to completely make up. He described it very well to help the reader imagine what it was even though we have never experienced anything like it before. This was a fantastic read and I would recommend it to people of all ages. Though it may be better for younger readers to enjoy, I believe that even an adult could have a fun, interesting read from this book. Review: A plucky girl protaganist on a harrowing road trip. - A plucky girl protagonist on a harrowing road trip. Gratuity is a great character, and an unusual one (mixed race background and a girl). She really stuck in my brain, perhaps because, to my delight, my daughter is like her in all the right ways. Even down the snarky humor, quick thinking, and deep friendships. We are beyond excited for the movie adaptation - and very anxious, also. Please, please, please with sugar on top, don't screw this up, DreamWorks. Signs are not looking very good with the previews - JLo the Boov is now "O" -- EVEN THOUGH JENNIFER LOPEZ IS IN THE FREAKING MOVIE. Sorry. Movies with Jennifer Lopez in them don't have a very good track record. I'm a little worked up. UPDATE (WE SAW THE MOVIE): Like most movie adaptations, the book is so much better than the lame, milquetoast adaptation. In a nutshell, the movie kept the main characters, and stripped out most of the good stuff -- the quirky charm, the scariness of an alien invasion, the inventive road trip storyline, and anything that might offend someone (like pissed-off Native Americans, mentioning Disney, using the right main character's name - J.Lo apparently did not want to sing for a movie where her name is used in vain, the general suckiness of AZ, etc.) No one goes to Australia in the book. If you are here to buy this book for your 5-8 yo that loved the movie -- whoa, Nelly! This book is not appropriate for younger kids and is aimed at the 8-12 market. Sure, it's light (occasionally) and funny (usually in a dark, cutting way), the Boov are fairly well-behaved invaders, and Tip is an awesome kid. But the book is also dark, has scary parts, some butt jokes, and let's just say the invasion in the book is not a big, bloodless, Boov party. And the Boov run away from the Gorg for a good reason. We are starting the sequel book, "Smek for President," tomorrow night. A book with Tip AND time travel?!? Why is it so short? I kind of want to move into it. Please, DreamWorks, stay out of this one! ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #80,269 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #678 in Children's Science Fiction Books (Books) #4,279 in Children's Humor #6,002 in Children's Animals Books | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 575 Reviews | ## Images ![The True Meaning of Smekday - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81lLN-aYxLL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Book from Out of This World *by W***4 on March 1, 2018* “A Book from Out of This World” Don’t judge anyone or anything just because they are different. You have probably thought of what it would be like if Aliens took over our planet. What would they look like? What would they do? Could we communicate? In the book The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, all of these questions are answered in Adam Rex’s imagination of what the Aliens are like. We learn that you should judge anything or anyone just because they are different than you. In this book, the Alien species, The Boov, land down on Earth and try to make ‘fair’ agreements with the human race. They decide to give the Americans all of Florida to live in. Gratuity Tucci, the main character, was living just an ordinary life as an 8th grader until her mom was taken by the Boov and brought to Florida. But when Gratuity was left and decided to drive there herself with her cat, she meets an new friend that could help her out a lot along the way. As some of you may know this book was created into a movie, Home. I️ really enjoyed this book and would definitely read it again. I gave this book 5 star for its humor, great descriptions, and it’s creativity. Adam Rex did a great job to add some of everything to this book without overdoing it. There was a lot of parts with humor in this book. Adam Rex worked in some funny parts while still making the book seem serious. This is shown on pages 87-88 where the text read, “ ‘Stupid Boov!’ I shouted, and then the scooter cop was right there.[....]‘It was French’ I said.” This part had humor because Gratuity convinced the Boov cop that she was complimenting his scooter. Another part that was funny was on page 66, “We lay there for a minute, staring at the roof./ ‘I could hum,’ said J.Lo./ ‘Shut up,’ I suggested.” This part was funny because Gratuity’s car broke down and she was really mad. Then J.Lo, Gratuity’s new friend, tried to break the awkward silence by asking if humming would help. In addition, this book had great description of the setting and characters. This really helped me imagine what was happening. On page 54-55 Adam Rex wrote, “As it turned out , the ship that took Mom was one of the little ones. There were ships the size of Rhode Island in the sky over my city,[...] At first they just hung there like jellyfish. But then the jellyfish began taking bites out of things.” This part in the book really helped me imagine the situation they were in. It also helped me imagine what the ships in the sky looked like. A second piece of evidence to help me understand the story with lots of details was on page 3 where the text said, “It was Moving Day, and everyone was crazy. You remember. It was chaos; people running around with armfuls of heirloom china and photo albums, carrying food and water, carrying their dogs and kids because they forgot their dogs and kids could carry themselves. Crazy.” This part really set the base for the story. It showed how the people reacted to the situation without directly telling us all the little details. It told us just enough to show us what it was like. Lastly this book is very creative. It really took a good imagination to come up with all the aspects of this story. It was very well thought out and it all fit very well together. This can be shown on page 169 when it describes the Boov’s God, “The God of Boovworld is not a person, or a ghost, or animal or such. Our God is the sea. she covers most of the planet, still creating and shaping the world.” This shows how they are creative because Adam Rex had to think of not just a God for aliens but also what their planet might be like. He had to combine all of these aspects to make something that fit well with the story. Another piece of evidence is on page 268 where the text described a robot sent from the other alien invaders the gorg, “It was some awful mixture of meat and machine, and I wasn’t at all surprised when J.Lo whispered that it was a robot sent by the gorg. It was green and purple all over, with a back end that formed a round cage.” This took a lot of creativity while it was still very descriptive. He had to create a robot sent from somewhere he had to completely make up. He described it very well to help the reader imagine what it was even though we have never experienced anything like it before. This was a fantastic read and I would recommend it to people of all ages. Though it may be better for younger readers to enjoy, I believe that even an adult could have a fun, interesting read from this book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A plucky girl protaganist on a harrowing road trip. *by C***L on August 19, 2008* A plucky girl protagonist on a harrowing road trip. Gratuity is a great character, and an unusual one (mixed race background and a girl). She really stuck in my brain, perhaps because, to my delight, my daughter is like her in all the right ways. Even down the snarky humor, quick thinking, and deep friendships. We are beyond excited for the movie adaptation - and very anxious, also. Please, please, please with sugar on top, don't screw this up, DreamWorks. Signs are not looking very good with the previews - JLo the Boov is now "O" -- EVEN THOUGH JENNIFER LOPEZ IS IN THE FREAKING MOVIE. Sorry. Movies with Jennifer Lopez in them don't have a very good track record. I'm a little worked up. UPDATE (WE SAW THE MOVIE): Like most movie adaptations, the book is so much better than the lame, milquetoast adaptation. In a nutshell, the movie kept the main characters, and stripped out most of the good stuff -- the quirky charm, the scariness of an alien invasion, the inventive road trip storyline, and anything that might offend someone (like pissed-off Native Americans, mentioning Disney, using the right main character's name - J.Lo apparently did not want to sing for a movie where her name is used in vain, the general suckiness of AZ, etc.) No one goes to Australia in the book. If you are here to buy this book for your 5-8 yo that loved the movie -- whoa, Nelly! This book is not appropriate for younger kids and is aimed at the 8-12 market. Sure, it's light (occasionally) and funny (usually in a dark, cutting way), the Boov are fairly well-behaved invaders, and Tip is an awesome kid. But the book is also dark, has scary parts, some butt jokes, and let's just say the invasion in the book is not a big, bloodless, Boov party. And the Boov run away from the Gorg for a good reason. We are starting the sequel book, "Smek for President," tomorrow night. A book with Tip AND time travel?!? Why is it so short? I kind of want to move into it. Please, DreamWorks, stay out of this one! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great, original, middle-school level story about a girl and her Boov... *by A***N on June 20, 2014* Wonderful elementary and middle-school level book. Highly recommended. The protagonist is an eighth grader who has lost her mother to an alien invasion. The book takes the form of an essay being written by the girl to explain what Smekday really means to her... The winner will have their essay included in a time capsule to be opened 100 years in the future. So Gratuity ("Tip") Tucci begins her story. She's funny, witty, and mature, while still having the light-heartedness and hopefulness of a, well, a middle-schooler. She first goes into the "what happened"... then the "what next" when her teacher urges her to include more personal reflection. Tip, her alien (Boov) compadre, "J-Lo" and her cat all set out to first save themselves and then to save the world. It's light, fun, quick, and cute. It's original, thoughtful, and funny. Well-populated by a wide variety of characters with their own personalities, this book is a gem that I'm glad I've discovered! Definitely recommend for elementary (high level) and middle school readers looking for something new... FOUR of five stars. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pt/products/177266400-the-true-meaning-of-smekday](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/177266400-the-true-meaning-of-smekday) --- *Product available on Desertcart Portugal* *Store origin: PT* *Last updated: 2026-09-22*