Going Bovine by Libba Bray | Delacorte Books | 2009 | Paperback $10.99
All 16-year-old Cameron wants is to get through high school — and life in general — with a minimum of effort. It’s not a lot to ask. But that’s before he’s given some bad news: he’s sick and he’s going to die. Which totally sucks. Hope arrives in the winged form of Dulcie, a loopy punk angel/possible hallucination with a bad sugar habit. She tells Cam there is a cure — if he’s willing to go in search of it. With the help of a death-obsessed, video-gaming dwarf and a yard gnome, Cam sets off on the mother of all road trips through a twisted America into the heart of what matters most.
I read this one on a long, cramped airplane trip. I bring that up because the odd reading circumstances may have colored my opinions.
Libba Bray (an awesome author from Texas, with a real connection with her fans) gives us a unique story over all, even if the road-trip-as-coming-of-age-story thing gets to be a little cliché sometimes. There’s just enough weirdness to make it different and keep up the head scratching.
The ending drags out a little, and it is not a exactly surprise — but it still manages to tug lightly at the reader’s heartstrings. Think of this book as a cross between Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Catcher in the Rye. Definitely recommended for readers who like ’em a little weird!
This means this book won the prestigious Printz Award in 2010. Fans of Libba Bray will be pleased to know that she is currently working on a sequel to The Diviners, which was nominated for both the Bram Stoker and Andre Norton awards last year.
Links:
- Official website of author Libba Bray
- Printz Award from the ALA
- Horror Writers Association, which manages the Bram Stoker award
- Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, the group that does the Andre Norton award
A version of this review originally appeared in the Galveston Daily News in 2013. My opinions do not reflect the views of my employer.
Publication information: Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. New York: Delacorte, 2009. Print.
Source: Public library
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.