Citation:
Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. New York: Random
House, 2009. ebook.
Annotation:
Cameron is a pot smoking high school slacker, with a
very low opinion of almost all his classmates.
After being diagnosed with Mad Cow disease he embarks on an epic road
trip to save the world from a dark wizard and ice giants. On his journey he encounters many oddities
from a Norse god lawn gnome to a happiness cult.
Justification for
Nomination:
The plot in this story is very fascinating and it
explores some of the ideas of string theory and parallel universes. The author really kept the readers on their
toes with the idea that everything in the book was somehow going to be
connected and not random events. The
main character Cameron grows as a person during the book. He goes from very self serving and not caring
about anyone, to being a hero that cares about what happens to people around
him. Gonzo, Cameron’s friend on the
journey goes from someone that relies on his mom, to a self reliant and
confident person.
This story is written in the first person and the
author makes that point of view flow smoothly.
The setting of the story has meaning in demonstrating to progression of
the journey. The theme of this story
appears to be the journey to accepting death and making up for not really
living prior to the Mad Cow disease diagnosis.
The author uses really nice imagery in the detailed descriptions
of the places and people. The language
used in the book really reflects how teenagers speak. The cover art of the book is very strange
with the cow carrying a traveling lawn gnome and it really draws
attention.
This book is a coming of age novel. Cameron buys his first car, leaves his
parents and experiences independence during the journey, has his first sexual
experience, and learns not to be selfish.
I also think this book has a unique way of dealing with an untimely
death. I have read a few other fictional
works about terminally ill teenagers and this book tackles the subject in a way
I have not seen in another book.
Genre:
Coming of Age / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Terminal
Illness
