It all starts with a school essay. 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? 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. Fully illustrated with “photos,” drawings, newspaper clippings, and comics sequences, this is a hilarious, perceptive, genre-bending novel by a remarkable new talent.

In this much-anticipated sequel to The True Meaning of Smekday, which inspired the blockbuster feature film Home, Tip and J.Lo are back for another hilarious intergalactic adventure! After Tip and J.Lo banished the Gorg from Earth, the pair is notorious—but not for their heroics. Instead, human Dan Landry has taken credit for conquering the Gorg, and the aliens known as the Boov blame J.Lo for ruining their colonization of the planet. Determined to clear his name, J.Lo and Tip head to New Boovworld, the aliens' new home on one of Saturn's moons. But their welcome isn't quite as warm as Tip and J.Lo would have liked, since J.Lo is now dubbed Public Enemy Number One. With the help of a friendly flying billboard named Bill, a journey through various garbage chutes, a bit of time travel, and a slew of hilarious Boovish accents, Tip and J.Lo must fight to set the record straight and return home in one piece. "This sequel shares the strengths of its the loving friendship between Tip and J.Lo, the respect for the absurd, and the social consciences of the teen protagonist and her ET BFF."— Kirkus Reviews Don't miss the front story in this intergalactic adventure, The True Meaning of Smekday