Noggin combines romance, the future, and some crazy surgery to make one great book. Just before Travis died of leukemia at the age of 16, he decided to have his head cryogenically frozen, in the hope that sometime in the future medical technology may have advanced to allow his head to be sewn onto a donor body. Sooner than expected, Travis finds himself in a hospital, alive and only five years behind every one else.
It's this short time span between Travis's death and subsequent re-animation that make this book such a great read. This book is funny, sad and just a little bit strange all at once. It's hard not to be drawn in. And with the brilliant cover, the book is already good before you start reading!
The first few chapters for me were the best, but the rest of the book was by no means an anti-climax. The first chapter is very surreal. There are a lot of things going on, not to mention the fact that head transplants are now possible! But by the second chapter you can already feel how Travis feels, and know how hard this is for him. The medical information is also very interesting, you can imagine those kinds of terms being used in hospitals throughout the world, maybe even in a time not too far off. That is one of the things I got from the book: you should try and live in the present, but at the same time, the future isn't too far away.
There are some incredibly emotional scenes in this book, both happy and sad. They give you a real insight into the world of those who suffer from and survive leukemia (I guess Travis is sort of both?!). My favourite aspect of the book were the characters. John Corey Whaley really makes them seem real, like they're not just fictional people. You can imagine them being your friends.
Overall, I loved this book. It was very touching, but at the same time it gave a sense of hope. I would give this book 5 stars!
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