tiny pink books

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2009

Cameron Smith is your underachiever teen.  He floats through life passively, putting in the bare minimum at school, in his family, work, and even in his friendships.  When he is diagnosed with mad cow disease, it’s like he’s going to die without ever having lived.  The disease eats away at his brain, causing visions and general madness…or is it madness?  Through a series of cryptic clues and possibly insane visions, Cameron is sent on a quest to find a mysterious Dr. X to save not only himself, but the entire world.  Bringing a new friend, Gonzo, along for the ride, Cameron is forced to really engage on an adventure that is part madness, part love story, and part spring break road trip.  But will he find a cure for his disease?  Can he save the universe?  Is this really happening or is it all just the breakdown of his mad cow infused brain?

I don’t really know what to make of Going Bovine.  It is appropriate that the main character has a deteriorating brain…because the story is messy and mad in its own way.  There are gems within it, for sure, but I can’t say, with any confidence, that they have been pulled together into a great work.  The humor, for example, is spot on.  Libba Bray is one funny lady and the world is a better place for it!  The friendship between Gonzo and Cameron and their road trip antics is hilarious in that buddies who rag on each other a la John Green’s characters kind of way.

Despite some downright delightful moments in Going Bovine, however, it was hard to get through.  The good part is, this is a teenage, stoner version of magical realism.  The unexplained happens and the entire story is unique and interesting for what it is.  Maybe it was just covering too much or maybe the mad cow journey lasted just a bit too long, but the whole story felt like it was falling apart by the end.  In a way, it was appropriate because Cameron’s brain is also falling apart by the end…but it just wasn’t that fun to read anymore.  I wanted to like this book, I really did.  I love that Bray has departed from the historical fiction setting of the Gemma Doyle books and there are some wonderful moments in Going Bovine, but I just grew tired of this book in its 496 pages.  Maybe, after writing under the more rigid constrains of the historical and fantasy worlds of Ms Doyle, Bray just had to break free and go hog wild, but Going Bovine was just a little too messy to be coherent at times.  It didn’t help that the epic journey had a bit of a letdown conclusion as well.

I would recommend this to John Green fans who want more of that buddy picture humor and don’t mind a meandering plot.  Likewise, fans of magical realism and epic road trips might be inclined to enjoy.  I would not recommend this to reluctant readers or readers who need a neatly packed plot with a clean resolution.  I’m also not sure if fans of Bray’s previous work will cross over, though those who were savvy enough to pick up on the subtle, but delicious humor, of the Gemma Doyle books may find something within Going Bovine as well.

Liar

Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2009

Told from the point of view of an admittedly compulsive liar, Liar is a psychological mystery with just a dash of the supernatural.  Micah lies constantly.  From pretending to be a boy at school, to her father’s occupation, Micah is compelled and fascinated with telling lies.  When her classmate and secret boyfriend Zach is found dead in Central Park, everyone suspects Micah, the liar, as his killer.  As Micah takes readers through the last few days of Zach’s life, she spins a web of strange and dark secrets.

Liar was an odd book.  From the very beginning, it has a strange, haunted feeling to it.  The lonely and dark tone of the writing at first reminded Speak (and books like it), but with a plot so uniquely crafted, I can’t fairly compare Liar to anything.  Without giving too much of the book away, I will say that there is a major revelation, mid-book, that changed the story completely.  At first I was frustrated (I actually threw the book down, shouting, “Seriously?!”), but I plodded on and became quite fascinated by the end.  Liar was definitely one of those books that grows on you over the read and in the aftermath.  Thought provoking and strange, writing becomes somewhat captivating.  I wouldn’t recommend it to reluctant readers, but for a special reader who wants a book that is intriguing and mysterious, this is your book!  A little bit science fiction, a teensy bit fantastic, and a lot of deep, almost tortured, character study, Liar is quality book that will hopefully find an audience between these genres.