Kidsmomo

In the new movie Home, we learn that if there is less than a 50% chance of success, an alien Boov will run away from the situation. On the other hand, we think there is more than a 50% chance you’ll enjoy this film, so you should run to the theater right now!

Okay, maybe not right this very second because you should check out the original book first: The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex.

Both the book and the movie are about a girl and an alien making an epic journey to overcome the Boovs, who have taken over Earth. The girl is Gratuity Tucci, who is intent on finding her mother. The alien is named J.Lo in the book and named Oh in the movie.

Oh is intent on hiding out from his fellow Boovs after he makes a colossal mistake that reveals Earth’s location to another alien race set on total destruction.

As huge fans of the book, we were really excited to see the movie. Then we got to the theater and it was sold out!

Luckily, we were able to catch a later showing, and the wait was worth it!

We were totally delighted by the funny and moving movie.

There are a lot of differences from the book, but we weren’t super mad about them because the film worked as its own story.

Nancy’s favorite part was how the Boov change colors depending on their emotions. She enjoyed figuring out which colors matched which feelings.

Karen’s favorite part were all the visuals involving Boov bubbles floating and flying through the air. She especially loved the aerial view of the city immediately following the Boov invasion because it looked a lot like the book cover!

Our only major complaint: We wanted to see more of Pig the cat! (That’s a cat named Pig, in case you are confused.)

Isn’t he adorable???

But enough about felines named after other creatures — back to the movie review! As you can guess, we give this movie two smiley faces.

We both laughed a ton, and Karen even cried! (Although yes, she cries at a lot of movies. But rarely during bad ones! But sometimes during bad ones. But this is not a bad one!)

And don’t forget that the book’s sequel, Smek for President, just came out last month! So be sure to check that out after you see this movie!

As always, we can’t take credit for making any of these images — all taken from the Interwebs!

Jennifer Lopez may be judging reality TV, but J.Lo is busy driving around the country in a floating car, fleeing aliens and helping a girl reunite with her mom.

How is that possible?

Well, in Adam Rex’s The True Meaning of Smekday, J.Lo is not a singing and acting sensation. J.Lo is actually an extraterrestrial.

To be more exact, J.Lo is a Boov who arrived with an alien invasion of Earth. They all chose more human-friendly names, and J.Lo chose, well, J.Lo. And with such a funny name, it’s no wonder he ends up befriending a girl named Gratuity (nickname: Tip).

Together, Gratuity and J.Lo embark on a journey to find Gratuity’s mom, who was abducted before the full alien invasion. Along the way, they have to escape from other Boov, hide J.Lo from suspicious humans, and deal with an entirely different — and far more dangerous — alien race that plan to take over the Earth themselves.

Obviously, The True Meaning of Smekday is an action-packed adventure — and once I started, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see what happened next. But it’s also 10,000% HI-larious. I absolutely guarantee you will laugh out loud.*

So get out there and discover The True Meaning of Smekday! Before the real aliens come and you don’t have time for reading because you’re too busy fighting in the rebel forces. It could happen, right?

And if you’ve already read the book, leave a comment with your opinion or send in your full review!

— Karen

Karen packed this book for a vacation and ended up reading the whole thing before her plane landed at her destination. Yes. It’s that good.

More about Karen »

*Guarantee not contractually binding and will not hold up in a court of law.