We sent Adam Rex, the author of so many wonderful books himself, a copy of Abhimanyu Sukhdial’s Three Days Till EOC, the winning work in Stone Soup’s Book Contest 2019, published last September. We were so thrilled to receive this incredible review of the book from him. Thank you, Mr. Rex, and congratulations, Abhi! There are a lot of stories about the end of the world, and almost as many fictional methods for bringing that end about (zombies, war, fairy invasion, alien planning committee to build a hyperspace bypass). Not a few of them are about the very real prospect that we’ll do ourselves in with global warming. That we’ll drown beneath the weight of all the stuff we thought we couldn’t do without. I’ve seen these stories before. Every one of them has been written by a true believer—an author who warns us that we have to change course for the sake of our children, or our children’s children. But there’s something especially arresting about a story of global warming catastrophe written by an author who just may be young enough to see it come about in his own lifetime. Three Days till EOC is special because author Abhimanyu Sukhdial makes you feel an urgency he no doubt feels himself. And because, after walking you to that edge, he also has the wisdom to imagine a way we all might take a step back. Climate scientist Graham Alison is one of only a thousand or so people left alive in the year 2100. And while his fellow humans are resigned to abandoning Earth and starting fresh on Mars, Alison remains hopeful that the coming climate cataclysm can be turned back. He sets upon a journey that’s equal parts survivalist adventure and classic science fiction, building upon the work of humanity’s best and brightest to travel through space and time. And when Alison finds you can’t change the course of a river by throwing a few stones, author Sukhdial leads him to a solution that could only exist in the most hopeful science fiction: a massive social media network that actually does what it’s supposed to do—make the world a better place by giving us a common purpose. At 12, Sukhdial already understands what many of us never learn: that often the only hope of reaching someone is to pull them close, find a personal connection, and tell a story. For hero Graham Alison, it’s how you save the world. But for author Sukhdial, it’s also the way to his readers’ hearts. Three Days Till EOC by Abhimanyu Sukhdial, published by Children’s Art Foundation–Stone Soup Inc. (2020) Buy your copies at all good book stores, from Amazon, or from the Stone Soup online store here.
Adam Rex
The True Meaning of Smekday, Reviewed by Pragnya, 12
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is not your typical science fiction novel. Sure, it does have some mind-boggling gizmos and gadgets, and your typical alien invasion, but it also has humor, an overload of alien cuteness, a few weird but funny wordplay jokes on an even weirder alien race, and much more that makes it stand out way more than you’d expect it to. The True Meaning of Smekday is a uniquely mind-bending, witty and hilarious novel centered around 11-year-old Gratuity Tucci’s essay about the time alien races invaded the United States and what it meant to her. The story starts out on Moving Day, the day when the Boov, an alien race trying to find a home for themselves, decides to put the whole population of America within one state, Florida. The protagonist, Gratuity, along with her pet cat called Pig decide to embark on a quest to find her mother, who had gone missing the same morning. After hiding from the Boov spaceships in a convenience store, she meets J.Lo, a quirky yet lovable Boov who tells her he accidentally sent a radio transmission of their location to another enemy alien race called the Gorg, who destroyed every planet they could get their hands on. Gratuity reluctantly teams up with J.Lo, who proves to be very resourceful when he wants to be. Together, their adventure to find Gratuity’s mother takes them across the country where they meet many friends and foes alike, visit many places to hide from the Gorg, and use many futuristic devices, like Slushious, Gratuity’s family van which J.Lo modifies to float in the air, and a cloning device which J.Lo used to refill the petrol in Slushious. Above all, though, the growing bond between girl and Boov is extremely heartwarming and special, and I personally enjoyed reading about the two of them learning and trying to experience each other’s culture and lifestyle. This book is special mainly because it has a trait which seldom many books have; you can’t summarize the whole story without revealing too much, like after Gratuity and J.Lo find ”mimom”, the story takes an even bigger plot twist. It seems as though all the adventures the two of them undergo for 300 pages seem to have nothing on what happens next. Another example is seen in the very beginning of the book, the title. What is the true meaning of Smekday? I also like the fact that the author has made all the characters (including the non-humans!) in a very humane way, unlike many science-fiction novels, where most scenes are exaggerated. Debut novelist Adam Rex was originally known for his picture books like ‘Frankenstein makes a Sandwich’, and in this full-fledged novel, his small drawings and comics like Smektastic Voyage, and guide to the Nimrog add little comedic touches which push this book to the next level. This book is definitely worth reading, and its entertaining narration, funny and easily relatable characters and one-of-a-kind plot will definitely make you want and reread and relive Gratuity and J.Lo’s world of adventures again and again. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. Disney-Hyperion, 2009. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
