It's been a couple of years since Gratuity "Tip" Tucci and her alien pal J.Lo saved the world, and adjusting to everyday life has not been easy for them. J.Lo would like to visit the other Boov, now happily settled on one of Saturn's moons, but he (yes, J.Lo is male) is still persona non grata with the Boov. Tip, meanwhile, is chafing under her mom's new and improved parenting style and wishing for a little of the freedom she enjoyed back in her world-saving days. Determined to go to New Boovworld and explain his role in saving the Earth to Captain Smek, J.Lo modifies Slushious, their flying car, for space travel. He and Tip head for New Boovworld . . . without Tip's mother's knowledge or permission. Of course, when they arrive, things don't go exactly as planned. Smek, struggling through a grueling presidential race, decides to imprison J.Lo as a political move to boost his popularity. Tip escapes, but now she is lost on a strange planet with no way home and no idea how to help her friend. Can Tip rescue J.Lo and get home? And what will her mother say about the whole situation?
I really love The True Meaning of Smekday (which is, by the way, the basis for the animated movie Home which comes out this spring). This sequel has the same delightful humor and touches of deeper social commentary, though the plotting in this volume is perhaps not quite as tight. Still, I read the whole book in two big gulps, and I hope that someday we'll see more of Tip and J.Lo.
(Reviewed from an advance copy, courtesy of the publisher.)
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