The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex is loosely structured as a personal essay written by eleven year old Gratuity Tucci for a school assignment. The Boovs conquer Planet Earth and declare that all Americans must relocate to Florida. Gratuity's mother is abducted by Boovs on Christmas Eve (or "Smekday" Eve since the Boov invasion). So Gratuity, also known as Tip, learns how to drive, packs up the Chevy, grabs her cat, and heads off to Florida to find her mother at the Happy Mouse Kingdom.  Along the way, she meets a Boov mechanic named J.Lo, who hitches a ride and agrees to help her and save the planet from disaster. J.Lo himself is on the run after mistakenly advertising the planet's whereabouts to yet another alien species. This is an extremely funny and creative sci-fi/road-trip story. Great black-and-white illustrations capture the characters' escapades and shed light on Boov history. Check out a review of this book by the New York Times

Fearless Commander Toad has been sent on a mission of finding Agent 007 1/2, a dangerous spy, who is a master of disguise. How will he find him if he is disguised? Read this fabulous story by Jane Yolen and find out. Commander Toad and the Intergalactic Spy is one title in the series of Commander Toad in Space. I highly recommend this series for beginning readers, who have pretty much exhausted the Easy Reader section and who are looking for a challenge. This book is particularly appealing to boys who like stories about science and space.