By Libba Bray
2009
This is a hilarious teen book about a boy with mad cow disease who tries to save the world from fire giants by finding a time travelling physicist named Dr. X. He road trips with a dwarf named Gonzo and gets clues through visits with a punk angel named Dulcie. I know, right? Sounds crazy! It's really fun, though - a dark comedy with plenty of teen angst and implausible situations. The reader never really knows if any of it happened as the story goes or if it is just the imaginings of Cameron's sick, dying brain.
Fiction read alikes:
"When a demon appears to repossess her car, eighteen year-old Bug Smoot discovers that both the car and her soul were given as collateral in a deal made with the Devil by her irascible grandfather."
Demons, teenagers, dark comedy...yes!
Teens with fatal illnesses, dark humor, and gritty language make this a more serious, less fantasy, read alike for Going Bovine.
A dying teen tries to make the most of his last year of life.
Non-Fiction Read Alikes
Learn about this horrible wasting disease.
One of my favorite parts of Going Bovine is when they are in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, listening to Junior Webster play jazz. This is a book about re-building New Orleans through music. A stretch as a read alike, but an interesting book nonetheless.
Media
Centers for Disease Control on BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephelopathy, or Mad Cow Disease)
An article that explains Mad Cow Disease from the authorities.
This rauckus movie goes with the part of Going Bovine where they attend the spring break "festivities" of YA! TV in Daytona. Par-tay!
In my mind, Junior Webster in Going Bovine looks and sounds like Louis Armstrong. Here's a CD that introduces Louis Armstrong to anyone who is not familiar.
Loraine sent me a nice review of Going Bovine: http://lorxiebookreviews.blogspot.com/2013/02/going-bovine-by-libba-bray.html
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