Going Bovine is the tale of mad cow infected Cameron, our wonderful hero of this story. He's been almost of an outcast, hoping to get through high school and life with little effort - the complete opposite from his totally popular dance team sister Jenna. And as fate would have it, Cameron really doesn't have all that long to live. He's found out he has mad cow disease, and he's going to die. So much for going to Eubie's music store, chilling and getting high in life, huh? And just to safe himself for dying, Cameron embarks on a last ditch trip to find a cure, and save the world. 
 Going Bovine is indeed eccentric, crazy, and absolutely brilliant. I've definitely forgotten how cool Libba Bray is, and this novel has outlined exactly why she succeeds in novel writing, and YA literature. She is perfect in voice, and tone. Cam sounds absolutely realistic in every way, as does her portrayal of normal high schoolers. Or slightly insane, outcast high schoolers. Either way, she succeeds in dialogue and language wonderfully. 
 At the same time, there's a big underlying reason why I didn't rate this book any higher. Going Bovine mentions everything between back and front cover from important issues of conformity to the majority, to a coming of age and character growth story to a novel challenging teenage perceptions and values as well as popularity and face value. Heck, this book goes as far as to touch on larger themes, of how to live life, and the value of an event. Yet, I think Going Bovine tries too hard to push its point across about life and pertinent issues of the day. The themes and ideas are given through Cam's adventure to find Dr. X and save the universe, yet they are rather scattered and border a mad-genius type of flow. Like teenagers perhaps, the ideas and events are arbitrary, sporadic, and a bit crazy. 
 I can see the brilliance behind these ideas, however I think it's a bit confusing to discern such values over the whole story. Half the time, I was confused on some points of the story and why it was so..funky? Going Bovine may be criticizing the world, yet it does in a hard to understand, evil genius type way. Perhaps I'm too young, or rushed through this novel to understand it. It is indeed cool, and totally loopy, but perhaps too much. Or maybe I just can't appreciate it.