Short&Sweet Post 1: The True Meaning of Smekday

Due to time restraints which prevent my blogging as much as I'd like to -- by which I mean children who either read everything I post, or who actively interrupt every fourth thought -- I'm going for short and sweet on the blog these days. Like chocolate truffles infused with orange flavor.Or chocolate-covered cherries; those are good, too. I also like toffees. I'm not fond of chocolate-on-chocolate, but I'll eat them if they're chilled. Mint and chocolate is always a good combination -- especially an Andes Mint Ice Cream we discovered a few years ago. Hm, it seems I've wandered into a high-calorie fantasy, brought on no doubt by my recent switch to sensible eating habits. 

Back to the original topic, I hope to blog more often, in smaller portions. A lot like how I'm eating these days. Except without all the bonbons.

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex (aimed at upper elementary and middle schoolers) was a serendipitous discovery. "Serendipity," as I defined it to my kids, means "a happy accident," and that's how I regard this book. Either Addi or Stuart brought it home from the library, having pulled it off the shelf at random. The premise didn't look very rollicking at first glance.

The year is 2013, and Earth has been taken over by aliens called the Boov. They've renamed the planet "Smekland" after their glorious Captain Smek who conquered the new land. Since the Boov decide they have need of most of North America, they order all Americans to board rocket pods and head to Florida.

Eleven-year-old Gratuity (her friends call her "Tip"), who watched the aliens abduct her mother, decides she'll drive to Florida instead. But she crashes somewhere outside Pittsburgh, and ends up in the company of one a Boov who seems to be on the run from his own kind. When Gratuity finds out why, she also finds out that there are other, scarier aliens to worry about.

So now she has to save the world.

Yeah, so it didn't look like a great read, especially for middle schoolers... until I actually started reading it. It's absolutely hilarious. The alien, for instance. Gratuity asks his name, and he replies, "Forto be saying my name you must have two heads. I haveto taken as my Smekland name, J.Lo." So for the entire book, Gratuity refers to this blue eight-legged frog-faced alien as "J.Lo." In Florida, they hide out in the Happy Mouse Kingdom, an alternate-reality Disneyworld. All the humans have been relocated to Arizona because, it turns out, the Boov like oranges. "Wait, they eat the oranges?" says Gratuity, who knows J.Lo's odd ideas about what constitutes food. "No," says someone else. "I think they wear them."

They travel to Roswell, New Mexico (via a flying car) where they find out that something really DID happen all those years ago. The story also -- in case you didn't catch it -- partially retells the story of the Western conquest of the New World. But Rex never lets his message overtake his story.

I've read the book twice. I don't know how many times Addi and Stuart have read it. (And Daphne's managed to get through the first 50 pages, which as far as she's concerned puts her in with the big kids.) This is definitely one that will stick around in the Household Library. Which it shouldn't be doing right now, because it's overdue at the Public Library.

-- SJ

P.S. Um, I intend for future Short&Sweet Posts to be actually, you know, short.

Influential Sayings

"What are five books that have influenced you most?" I hate questions like this. As soon as I'm asked for a list of anything, my mind goes blank. Five books, for instance? I suddenly can't remember a single book I've ever read in my whole life. Same for "favorite songs." Same for "sins to confess." (I always felt frantic during times of "self-examination" when I couldn't remember anything I'd ever done wrong.)

But if I approach the subject stealthily and gradually, I can come up with some answers. Some people make lists of worship songs. I, on the other hand, have identified five (fairly random) phrases that have had a big influence on how I think.

I might be wrong.
I like my opinions. I think they're accurate, well-balanced, and grace-filled. Many times I'm sure they're based on solid Biblical foundations. But it's incredibly helpful to remind myself that I might be wrong. That margin of error makes room for compassion, understanding... and even the ability to change my mind.

The Bible isn’t an instruction manual
It's not, you know. It's a collection of ancient writings -- some poetry, some history, some campfire stories, some letters, some narratives. It's the only authorized and inspired text that tells us Who God is and who we are in His sight. It's not a systematic layout of what to believe and what to do. One day, when I can read my Bible again, I won't read it like an instruction manual.

You have sinned, but you have also been sinned against.
Sometimes, it really isn't my fault. Sometimes, I really didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes, I have to forgive, but I don't have to take responsibility. That's usually not the case, but sometimes it is.

A unique interpretation is usually a wrong one.
I want to get this printed up on a mug. If you come across a Bible teacher whose take on a passage is radically different from any that you've ever heard before, it probably means that he or she has a good imagination, is pushing a very strong agenda, and doesn't waste a lot of time on, you know, actually teaching the Bible in context.

You have officially moved out of the “youth” category.
I tried swinging on a rope swing. The next day, my muscles screamed and I had big matching bruises on each inside thigh. My quotable mother gently explained to me that, at 35, I can't expect to act like I did when I was a teenager.

-- SJ