Book Review: The True Meaning of Smekday

Aliens have invaded Earth and renamed it Smekland.  Wait, no, let's start at the beginning.  Gratuity (Tip for short) Tucci is writing a report on the True Meaning of Smekday, which may or may not be included in a time capsule.  So this story starts with her and when her mother was abducted by aliens.  And then, later, the Boov invade Earth.  All the humans are supposed to be sent to Florida, but Tip decides to drive herself.  There are a variety of problems with this, the biggest two being that 1.) she's eleven years old and 2.) she's supposed to be on a Boov-approved rocketpod, not driving a car across busted highways.  Also, she has her cat (named Pig) and a runaway Boov named J.Lo in tow, which makes things complicated.  Then it turns out that another alien race is planning on invading Earth.  And then it gets weird(er). 

I love this book by Adam Rex.  It is hilarious, wonderful, quirky, and smart.  And it has great illustrations and some very funny cartoon strips drawn by J.Lo the Boov.  There are rumors of a movie in the works, so read this book now before the waiting list starts!

~ Book Ninja

P.S.  If you like Adam Rex, read some more of his stuff here!  It's all a bit different, but funny!

Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

At the beginning of Deadly Cool, Hartley thinks she has the perfect boyfriend. Then she discovers that Josh has been cheating on her. And not only that, it's with Courtney, the president of the school Chastity Club. Cue one breakup.

Then she discovers Courtney in Josh's closet, strangled to death with the cord of her iPod headphones. Oh yikes! Did Josh kill Courtney? Or is this all an elaborate frame job, meant to send Josh to jail for murder? (And if it is, does Hartley really care?)

If You Want to Be a Hero...

Then you need to check out The Hero's Guide To Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy.  Although this may be more of a "what not to do" guide. 

So it turns out that Prince Charming doesn't like to be called Charming.  None of them do.  They have names, you know.  Gustav, Duncan, Liam, and Frederick are the princes from the stories the troubadours tell - the stories named after the princesses.  They're not happy about being religated to a side note in the stories and they're not quite living happily ever after.  In fact, nothing seems to be going their way.  Which is a pity, since an evil witch has decided to cause a lot of trouble across all the kingdoms.  Even though they don't much like each other initially, the princes are going to have to band together and, well, save the kingdoms. 

This hilarious romp through fairy tales is a fun read.  The princes are flawed, but I couldn't help but like them anyway.  They do some growing up on their wacky adventures, but there's no high-handed moral lectures.  And the princesses are well-written characters in their own right - one is down-right bratty, but the rest are seeking adventure and trying to help those around them.  Also, the villians are fantastic, like the best kind of cartoon villians.  I love the Bandit King.  He's deliciously bad, but not in the ways you expect.  If you like this book, don't forget its sequel:  The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle.  Rumor has it that a third book is on its way as well!

~ Book Ninja

P.S.  Did I mention the fun pictures?  There's fun pictures!

The Perfect Halloween Book

A little scary, a little creepy, with a good dose of humor and lots of wackiness, Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez makes for good Halloween reading. 

Nessy is a kobold in charge of tending the castle of Margle the Horrendous and caring for all the beasts, ghosts, undead, and enemies that Margle has cursed into bizarre forms over the years.  Margle, in case you haven't guessed by now, is a wizard.  A greedy wizard with a inordinate love of revenge.  So when he dies, all of his odd (and occasionally gruesome) collections of both beasts and former enemies are thrilled.  Until they discover that the magics in the castle are unraveling in strange ways.

Nessy is the only one without a curse, so everyone's expecting her to save the day.  Nessy would much rather clean house (she prefers things tidy and orderly), but suddenly that's not so much of an option.  She and her friends (a bat, a disembodied voice, a purple people eater, and pieces of a wizard in a jar) are now frantically trying to outwit demons, an evil wizardess, and keep monsters on the loose from eating the other residents of the castle. 

If you find yourself waiting for Too Many Curses, check out one of A. Lee Martinez's other books.  Brew up some hot cider and curl up with some early Halloween candy and one of his books.  If you like wacky and a little creepy, you won't regret it. 

~ Book Ninja

(Stupendously) Bad Trip

There are some people who are fantasy people. There are some people who are sci-fi people. Then there are people like Platte F. Clark who have decided why not have both? In the same book. At the same time. Which is one reason why "Bad Unicorn" has to be one of my top book picks this year.

Middle school is hard enough when your mom doesn't understand your gaming obsession and you have to watch out for a bully called the Kraken, but then Max Spencer discovers the weird book he's had for years is magic. Like, real magic. And he's the heir to the greatest sorcerer of all, Maximilian Sporazo. It gets even worse when he accidentally transports himself, his friends Dirk and Sarah, and his local gaming store owner Dwight hundreds of years into the future... Meanwhile, a sorcerer in another realm is looking to get a hold of Max and his book. He recruits Princess, the most feared unicorn in the realm, to help him. But how can you track someone who's time traveled? And how exactly does one get back to the right time let alone fight a carnivorous unicorn (in the past AND the future), especially when you've only just discovered you can do magic?

With a bad tempered zombie duck, man-eating unicorns, golf-worshipping monks, more zombies, scary dragons, robot reality TV, and a talking sentient centipede game, "Bad Unicorn" is hysterical and awesome in so many amazing ways. Go read it. Now.