Going Bovine

OMG! What a great read. Love it, love it, loved it. I now officially have a YA novel that I can recommend to someone to read. I was soooooo into the story. Bray has such great writing skills; her descriptions were so vivid that I felt as if I were there. I wish the ending would have been different, but oh well, it's still good.

The imaginative and exciting plot changing from reality (the hospital) to Cameron's dreams (the mission) will pique the reader's interest and the fast pace will keep the reader engaged. Bray did a great job in developing the characters, and what is better than pairing two misfits together to save themselves and the universe? This story has several areas that teens can relate to: a pot-smoking loner whose immediate family are strangers to one another; a dwarf whose mother is so protective that the mother has created a hypochondriac son; the snobby sister and her clique of popular friends and athletes; parents who are so involved in their work that family is an afterthought; and a guardian angel to help sort things out. It was nice to see the family rally when Cameron got sick. I just hate that he and they never got the opportunity to share their feelings face-to-face. The connections were made in Cameron's dreams, but not in reality.

This story also had partying, sex, Mardi Gras, Disney World, and Daytona Beach as backgrounds in which teenagers may have been involved - this allows the reader to make an even more personal connection with the story. These could certainly reflect experiences of the reader.

When looking at the Exeter criteria that would help readers develop, I think Going Bovine hits all of them.