Going Bovine, Libba Bray

Reading Level:      Young Adult

• Hardcover:            480 pages
• Publisher:              Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 9/22/09

Bookmarks:          5

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What is there to say that hasn't already been said about this book?  Let's start with my hesitancy to read this book.  I read and enjoyed the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, but did I think the author was inventive, creative, and unique?  Nope, a lot of the elements in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy have been told before and will be told again in various ways.  I thought Libba Bray was a one-series wonder and that was it.

I was wrong and I owe Ms. Bray a BIG apology for ever thinking that.

Cameron Smith is your typical 16 year old guy who also happens to be a twin.  His sister is popular, pretty and dates the hottest guy in school.  Who also happens to be a douche and has 'found' God since a career ending injury.  

Cam's father is disappointed with his son's grades, because he should be striving to be more than mediocre, but that is just not the way that Cam rolls.    Cam is happy to get high in the bathroom with the other loser friends.  He'd rather listen to his horrible music and not really understand what life represents.  He's happy coasting through.  Cam works at a boring typical teenage job (Buddha Burger) and even doesn't do that quite right.  But when something happens that gets him fired, and then he starts acting out in school.  The 'rents take him to the doctor where he will be diagnosed with something that will change the way he sees the world.

Being diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease and seeing a punk rock Angel popping up whenever is really messing with Cam's brain.  He wonders if his father is having an affair with his student assistant.  A fellow stoner student whose mom has Munchausen by Proxy commits him to the hospital for the latest disease of the week (of which he does not have).  

When Dulcie (punk rocker Angel) gives Cam a quest to find the elusive Dr. X to stop the world from ending and possibly cure his mad cow disease, he takes off with Gonzo and on they go on a trip of a lifetime.

What endeared me to Libba's writing was that it was raw and fresh and she wrote in just the right voice and showed us that going on a trippy trip can be the trip of a lifetime.  The highs and lows of this book hit every right note.  From her take on education, churches, cults (The Church of Everlasting Satisfaction and Snack 'n' Bowl is hysterical).    Gonzo was a favorite character of mine as well.  He might suffer from Dwarfism, but that never made him seem little to me.  His character was too big.

I applaud Ms. Bray for captivating me in a way that I have never been captivated.  I know that there are some comparisons to Adams The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and while I have read that.  It never really permeated in my conscious.

I cannot recommend this book enough.  Go, RUN and learn something.