LitPick Review
For Travis Coates, the saying 'You only live once' holds no value. Sixteen-year-old Travis had a body riddled with cancer, and the only way to save his life (if it worked) was to cut off his head and put it in a freezer, hoping to reattach it to someone else's body once science progressed enough that the surgery would be possible. No one really believed that it would be successful, but surprise, surprise, five years later, Travis's head woke up attached to a taller and more muscular body. Travis is still sixteen, though his best friend and his girlfriend are in college, and are very different from before Travis . . . uh . . . left. Travis has to learn how the old him and the new him are going to exist together. The result may be a few more scars. Oh well... you only live twice.
Opinion:
Noggin by John Corey Whaley is the most bizzare book I have ever read, and I loved it. I had never heard of a kid getting his cut off and reattached to another body, and honestly, Whaley did an amazing job of making that crazy idea into a realistic story. The characters are lovable, maybe a bit strange in the best way, and very relatable; they know what true friendship means. Written in the first person, you really live the whole experience with Travis. For example, when Travis would do something stupid and embarrassing, I would have to close the book and breathe for a second because I could feel his embarrassment. It made me laugh and cry in a good way, and left me wanting more. The writing style was hilarious and thought-provoking at the same time, though the amount of swearing was distracting and unnecessary to the story. Overall, I thought it a very unique and fun book, and would recommend it to others.
