Gong Bovine

Bray, Libba. Going Bovine.  Delacorte Press, 2009. 480 pages, $17.99 ISBN: 9780385733977 (trade)

Plot Summary:

At 16 Cameron is a bit of an outsider.  He spends most of his free time watching television, smoking pot and listening to obscure Portuguese musicians.  But then Cameron contracts Mad Cow Disease and is told he is going to die a horrible painful death which will turn his brain to mush.  Suddenly, Cameron realizes that he has been wasting his life.

Then a punk rock angel, Dulcie appears to Cameron promising him a cure if he can find Dr. X and prevent the world from being destroyed by residual dark matter from a wormhole to another dimension.  Cameron sets off in search of Dr. X with his hospital roommate, a hypochondriac dwarf named Gonzo.  Along the way the pair meets a dead jazz musician, is attacked by fire giants, and trapped in a happiness cult.  Eventually, Cameron and Gonzo are joined by Balder a Norse god trapped in the form of a lawn gnome.  On the quest of a lifetime Cameron learns what it really means have a friend, fall in love, and to live life to the fullest.

Critical Review:

Going Bovine is a hysterical Don Quixote inspired adventure in search of missing physicists and parallel universes.  Throughout the book the reader is left wondering whether Cameron’s fantastical adventure is really happening or if it is not all an elaborate hallucination as a result of the his disease.  He goes from being apathetic teen to one facing his mortality and the fact that he will slowly lose his mind.  Bray’s Going Bovine is unexpected, completely unpredictable, and utterly brilliant.  Going Bovine’s irreverent tone and humor reminded me of the writing of one of my favorite authors Tom Robbins.  Just like Robbins writing, Going Bovine is an electric acid trip of words, I couldn’t put it down! 

 Genre:

Science Fiction

Adventure

Interest Level:

Grade 9 and up

Similar Books:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates Tom Robbins

Subjects/Themes:

Mad Cow Disease

Parallel Universes

Friendship

Awards/Honors:

Booklist Editor’s Choice, Books for Youth, 2009
Michael L. Printz Award Winner 2010

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2010

Author’s Website:

http://libbabray.com/

Annotation:

Going Bovine is a hysterical, modern Don Quixote, adventure that takes Cameron, a hypochondriac dwarf, and a Norse god lawn gnome, from Texas to Florida encountering dead jazz musicians, fire giants, happiness cults and more obstacles on their journey to save the world.

Book Talking Ideas:

 Overnight Cameron goes from being an ordinary, well maybe not entirely, teen to being sick, really sick, dying sick.  Cameron has Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, more commonly known as Mad Cow Disease and he destined to die painfully.  That is until he meets Dulcie, a punk rock angel with the promise of a cure, if Cameron, his friend Gonzo, a hypochondriac dwarf, and Balder, a Norse god in the guise of lawn gnome, can find the elusive physicist Dr. X and save the world from being consumed by dark energy.

Why I chose to include this book:

Author Kelly Link describes Going Bovine as “an alternate version of The Phantom Tollbooth, where Holden Caulfield has hit Milo over the head and stolen his care, his token, and his tollbooth.  There’s adventure and tragedy here, a sprinkling of romance, musical interludes, a battle-ready year gnome who’s also a Norse god, and practically a chorus line of physicists.”  This the most wonderful and perfect description of this book and the reason I read it and included it here. 

Potential Challenges:

Marijuana use and adult language