The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex

Where to start with Smekday? Okay. The earth is invaded by a bunch of aliens called Boovs. The Boovs generously "give" Americans Florida so that they can have the rest of the country. When eleven-year-old Gratuity Tucci's mom is taken by the Boovs to be a translator, she decides that she will drive to Florida by herself with only a cat named pig for company. Along the way, they meet a Boov who calls himself J.Lo (he's been hiding out in the magazine section of a store). J. Lo is on the lam from other Boovs, although Gratuity doesn't know this at first. Eventually, when another group of aliens called Gorgs arrive, J.Lo has to admit that he accidentally sent out radio signals to the Gorg. The Gorgs are much worse than the Boov and will not only kill all humans but will completely destroy the planet. But Gratuity, with the help of J.Lo and Pig manage to save the day.

At over 400 pages, there are alot of detours into side adventures, meeting with quirky characters, and lots of humour. But Gratuity and J. Lo are always at the heart of the story, their initial fear and antagonism gradually giving way to respect and frlendship. A fine book whose story and characters will remain with the reader long after the last page is finished.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

With five minutes before my kids got home for lunch and fifteen minutes before I had to head to work I was racing through the last few pages of Life As We Knew It. I really wanted to know how things were going to turn out for 16-year- old Miranda and her family who are trying to survive after a meteor knocks the moon into closer orbit to the earth, resulting in tsunamis, earthquakes, illness, and starvation (among other things).

As a reader, you know from page one that disaster is just around the corner. But of course, everyone is looking forward to viewing this night-time spectacle - many of Miranda's neighbours are hosting parties to coincide with the meteor's arrival. Maybe not such a bad idea, since no-one's going to be celebrating again for a long time - if ever.

As the year progresses, things get progressively worse for the family. While not directly affected by tsunamis, volcanoes erupting around the world block out the sun and cause food shortages. The local and national infrastructure is fractured and gradually oil, internet, radio, and medical help disappear. Through it all, life becomes increasingly precarious for the family but they are determined to survive if at all possible.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Ruby is living by herself in a broken-down old farmhouse after her mom takes off on her. In a few months she will be eighteen and legally independent but when social services learns of her situation she is obliged to live with her older sister, whom she has not seen for many years. Suddenly, she is living in a beautiful house and going to a private school, but Ruby is uncomfortable with the situation. Because she feels that everyone she has ever cared about ultimately leaves, she is determined not to get close to anyone or to rely on anyone. But life doesn't work that way. As the people around her, including the popular guy next door, begin to find their way into her life, she finds that they too have problems and secrets to deal with. While Ruby and other characters are well-developed and the plot an interesting one, I found that the dialogue was a bit unbelievable. Lessons about relationships are provided through conversations and I kept thinking that people really don't talk like this. However, Sarah Dessen is tremendously popular and this would be a good bet to recommend to teen girls who like books about working through problems in relationships. Another one, in the same genre, but much shorter is Sweethearts by Sara Zarr