Bray, Libba. Going
Bovine. New York: Delacorte, 2009. Print. ISBN: 0385733976
Summary: Cameron, a 16 year-old who seems to exist but
isn’t actually doing any living, is contracted with a disease that will
ultimately be his doom. Embark on his adventure along with a dwarf and a garden
gnome. This is an entertaining story of learning how to live no matter the
circumstances, even if they are dire.
Analysis: Libba Bray does an excellent job painting the
picture for her reader. It is as if she wants to show the reader how the story
would play out if it was on the movie screen. Each scene has an angle, showing
she is the director in her own created story. “The camera angle goes wider and
wider till it’s so out of focus we’re nothing but a blob of color on the screen”
(Bray 59). The reader visualizes this as it happens, projecting the movie
experience. Once Cameron is emitted to the hospital, the rest of the story plays
metaphorically as if he is finally living, but through a dream.
Bray’s style is
hilarious, laugh out loud funny. She does a fantastic job conveying the culture
as their adventure starts off in Texas then traveling through many different states,
leaving readers hearing the different dialects/accents in their mind. New
Orleans was portrayed quite well you feel as if you actually just visited there.
The addition of Norse mythology provided by the gnome, Balder, was way cool. Boldface
headings start each chapter, adding an element of foreshadowing. These headings
are quirky and funny, leading the reader wondering what Cameron and his entourage
will get themselves into next. Cameron fights for his life by fighting the
disease within him, showing the reader he just might actually have a passion
for life after all. His dreams during his comatose state represent this fight within
him as he learns some life lessons along the way.
A serendipitous story
through and through. There were “signs” for Cameron about life and choices before
looking for signs was even mentioned in the story. Characters the reader meets
early on will play into Cameron’s fate later, leaving the reader with the
message that everything is connected.
A fight between life and death is presented by Bray in such a cool way. Listed
for high school age students, however, the middle school students would enjoy
it at well. There is some foul language, and sexual innuendos, but ultimately pretty
clean. Bray’s writing, with her quirkiness and sly tie-ins, leaves the reader constantly
entertained with a great message that to exist is one thing, but learning to love is to have actually lived. This is a story
about finding one’s passion in life.
Activity: As Cameron embarks on his journey of survival
and saving the world, students will create a digital photo story or video that
represents the key points as well as the main themes that symbolize Cameron’s
fight for his life as his adventure progresses throughout the story.
Related Resources:
Andrews, Jesse. Me and Earl
and the Dying Girl: A Novel. New York: Amulet, 2015. Print.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is
a story about Greg Gaines, a young lad that avoids anything in life, skirting
by, lacking passion for anything. Quite similar to Cameron in Going Bovine. Like Cameron, Greg embarks
on a journey that just may help open his eyes and his heart to finding their
meaning in this life dealing with the approach of death along the way.
Bray, Libba. Beauty Queens.
Jefferson City, MO: Scholastic Press, 2011. Print.
Beauty Queens is a crazy fun
quirky story where a plane full of beauty pageant contests crashes on a remote
island. The young ladies all have to figure out how to survive, sometimes fighting
for their lives. Bray’s writing is so entertaining you feel like you are watching
a television show along with the commercials. Laugh out loud funny, much like her writing
style in Going Bovine.
Scholarly Reviews:
School Library Journal, 09/01/2009; Kirkus Review, 08/15/2009; Publisher’s
Weekly, 08/03/2009; Booklist,
08/01/2009
Bray, Libba. Going Bovine.
Delacorte Press, 2009. EBSCOhost,
ezp.twu.edu/login?url=http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=kdh&AN
=BK0008131627&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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