Just finished listening to Libba Bray's Going Bovine and just need to know what all the fuss is about? Bovine won lots of recognition, but I must be missing something. Seemed disconnected and predictable and confusing all at the same time. Loved much of the dialogue and Bray's clearly a talented YA author, but I was left wishing for much more.
For some reason this book makes me think either I -- or Bray -- or the critics -- have missed the teenage mark on our assessment of a good Young Adult title. I know there are books I think are just not terribly great that really speak to teens (Sacher's Holes comes to mind) and vice versa. And there are plenty of books I love that fall completely flat with teens.
As a reader and reviewer of YA titles, I'm always conscious of this. How much of my adult brain do I need to temporarily excuse to get a good fix on the value of a book written for teens? Or do good books transcend age parameters?
One of my favorite teen readers and students came in the library looking for a recommendation the other day. Actually we share many of the same favorites but couldn't have been farther apart on our recent assessment of Anna Jarzab's All UnquietThings. She loved it; I couldn't wait to finish it off. Anyway, as we started perusing the shelves she said, "Pick out something you really hated, Mrs. Vaughan." We laughed and I gave her Justine Larbalestier's Liar which I told I half liked and half didn't like.
I wonder what she'll think of Going Bovine?
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