Noggin by John Corey Whaley

Simon & Schuster, 2014. ISBN 9781471122897
(Age: 13+) Highly recommended.
'Listen - I was alive once and then I wasn't. Simple as that. Now I'm alive again.'
The first lines for this novel set the scene for a very thought provoking and very funny book.
Travis, suffering from a life threatening illness, is offered the possibility of being frozen and brought back to life in the future. The process is cranial hibernation and reanimation and involves Travis' head being transplanted onto a donor body.
In a blink of an eye Travis awakes to find that five years have passed and he is taller and more muscular than before. He also finds his girlfriend is now engaged to someone else, his best friend is still hiding his homosexuality and his parents are divorced.
This is so well written the reader is thoroughly engaged from start to finish. Along with laugh out loud, and tears in the eyes, moments there are some serious philosophical questions to be considered. This book would be a good companion for the novel The Adoration of Jenna Fox as they both consider identity and the ethical and moral considerations of manipulating what it is to be human. This book is highly recommended.
'And of course it wasn't okay. But that's what we have to do right? We have to tell people it's okay even when we know it isn't.'
Linda Guthrie