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 the 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 to the Human preserve. But it ends up being so much more as we learn how Earth was invaded by the Boov and the name of the planet is now Smekland. On Christmas Eve which is now called Smekday Tip's mother is sucked up by what looks like a giant vacumm but ends up being the Boov. Several weeks before Tip's mother complained about having a new mole that glowed. Tip notices it getting bigger and glowing more and that her mom is talking in Italian and English in her sleep - yelling out what sounds like vocabulary. But the worse is yet to come on Christmas eve when Tip is now alone with her cat Pig.
What follows is a heartbreaking yet hysterical cross country journey to Florida. Along the way she picks up a Boov - or rather after her car breaks down and J.Lo fixes it. So now her car floats and she's nicnamed it Slushes after the slushes tail fins it now sports. After some very surreal conversations with J.Lo Tip discovers that her mother is one of the teaches to the Boov so they can learn human language. But while they can speak and understand Human language they can't read. The Boov use these complicated bubbles to communicate with. When they get to Florida they discover that the humans have been moved to Arizona because the Boov love oranges and want Florida for themselves.
So now they have to get to Arizona. Their car breaks down in Roswell, NM and they find a small colony of humasn still living there. But worst of all aother alien group called the Gorg are invading Earth and the Boov are now fighting to save Smekland/Earth.
Chief Shouting Bear (aka Frank) who owns the Area 51 spaceship, Mitch, the guy in the missing persons bureau who always talks in questions?, and Daniel Landry who may not be the fantastically great guy everyone seems to think he is--but they need leaders and he's rich, so that must make him a good leader! The future looks dim for the humans and it seems like the new and improved group of aliens may just win the day...except for a little glitch in their nature that Gratuity figures out!
I read this on CD after recommendation by friend Teresa. It was hysterical and heartwarming at the same time. The reader, Bahni Turpin was awesome and she fit the personality of the characters perfectly.