The New York Times Book Review - A. J. Jacobs
…Whaley's themes…and characterizations are strong. Whenever I finish a novel with a high concept, I do a little test and ask if the book would hold up if the conceit were magically stripped away, if you removed the gimmicks and were left with only the emotional skeleton. Would I still enjoy Harry Potter if it were about a nerdy nonwizard at a regular old boarding school? Probably, because the characters are so wonderfully drawn…As for Noggin? Well, if it had no time-shifting or cryogenicsif it were about a kid who, say, returned to school after a couple of years abroadI'd still recommend it, thanks to Whaley's prose. But the transplanted head is a fine bonus.
Publishers Weekly - Audio
09/01/2014
In Whaley’s novel , Travis Coates has his head surgically removed and cryogenically frozen after he dies of leukemia at age 16. Five years after his death, technological advances allow doctors to attach his head to a donor body that is taller and more muscular than the original. Travis awakens to restart life where he left off—sophomore year—,but it has only been five years, just long enough for everyone in he knows to have moved on. His best friend Kyle is struggling through college; his former girlfriend Cate is engaged to someone else. Heybourne masterfully captures the emotional roller coaster of Travis’s journey into a new life—and body. His ability to capture the inflection of this first-person narrative while conveying Travis’s emotions—and often disorientation—is truly commendable. Less praiseworthy is his portrayal of Travis’s two male friends, who are often difficult to distinguish from one another. Otherwise, Heybourne keeps listeners thoroughly engaged in this audio rendition of a truly original story. Ages 14–up. A S&S/Atheneum hardcover. (Apr.)
Publishers Weekly
★ 01/20/2014
Like baseball great Ted Williams, Travis Coates has his head surgically removed and cryogenically frozen after he dies (of leukemia at age 16). Unlike Williams, Travis is a fictional character, and five years after his death, technological advances allow doctors to attach his head to a donor body that’s taller and more muscular than the original. Whaley’s second novel (following his Printz-winning Where Things Come Back) is far more concerned with matters of the heart than with how head reattachment surgery would work. Travis awakens to restart where he left off—sophomore year—but everyone he knew has moved on. Best friend Kyle is struggling through college; former girlfriend Cate is engaged to someone else. As only the second cryogenics patient successfully revived, Travis is in uncharted territory; he’s “over” high school, but not ready to be anywhere else. Travis’s comic determination to turn back the hands of time and win Cate’s love is poignant and heartbreaking. His status in limbo will resonate with teens who feel the same frustration at being treated like kids and told to act like adults. Ages 14–up. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Apr.)
April 2014 Teenreads.com
"NOGGIN is an incredibly imaginative way to examine the universal feeling of longing to return to the way things use to be…. Far from predictable, NOGGIN contains a few twists to keep readers guessing, but the real heart of the book is the hang up on the pastthe feeling that if you could just remind someone you loved how things used to be, old feelings would quickly return. It also focuses on larger issues, like how to deal with the weight of other's expectations, and how to get a friend to be true to themselves. NOGGIN is a novel about trying for a future very different from the one you planned, and learning to be ok with the change. Funny and relatable, fans of Whaley's first novel WHERE THINGS COME BACK won't be disappointed."
BookPage
"A graceful combination of raw heartbreak and biting wit (including plenty of head puns) guides Travis through [his] existential search for life's meaning and survival. . . . While the novel's premise may be straight out of Hollywood, Travis' voice could not be any truer. Fans of John Green will welcome this smart tearjerker."
March/April 2014 Horn Book Magazine
"Readers will find it easy to become invested in Travis's second coming-of age—brimming with humor, pathos, and angst—and root for him to make peace with his new life."
Booklist
* "Travis Coates has lost his head—literally.... [A] wonderfully original, character-driven second novel. Whaley has written a tour de force of imagination and empathy, creating a boy for whom past, present, and future come together in an implied invitation to readers to wonder about the very nature of being. A sui generis novel of ideas, Noggin demands much of its readers, but it offers them equally rich rewards."
May 2014 New York Times Book Review
The premise of John Corey Whaley’s young adult novel “Noggin” – outlandish as it is – has such wonderful resonance. . . . Whaley has a gift for detail. . . . He can be very funny. . . . And, like [John] Green, he can choke you up.
June/July 2014 Justine Magazine
"We weren't sure what to expect from this one, but were pleasantly surprised by honest, funny and incredibly likeable Travis. As a walking miracle, he should be grateful, but he struggles with feeling out of step in his own life. Noggin is filled with loving relationships that remind us that even with the kindest people and the best intentions, life is complicated."
Shelf Awareness
* "What is it like to be frozen, à la Ted Williams, never believing you'll really come backand then you do? That's the preposterous premise of John Corey Whaley's novel, conveyed with realistic emotions that keep his narrator, Travis, grounded, and the story credibleand also highly entertainingfor readers. . . . Whaley makes his hero's implausible situation absolutely convincing. The questions lurking behind Travis's sometimes rash actions plague all teenagers. . . . Ultimately this insightful story explores the challenges of intimate relationships and managing expectations. Whaley asks teens to think about the life they want to make for themselves."
February 2014 VOYA
"Whaley’s sweet and raunchy first-person narrative provides a thought-provoking look at the notions of self-awareness, the nature of identity, and the angst of a very special teen. The lively, conversational style will engage teen readers in search of an unusual, but relatable, character. At times hilarious and heart-wrenching, Noggin, with its eye-catching cover art, belongs in all library collections serving young adults."
Booklist
* "Travis Coates has lost his head—literally.... [A] wonderfully original, character-driven second novel. Whaley has written a tour de force of imagination and empathy, creating a boy for whom past, present, and future come together in an implied invitation to readers to wonder about the very nature of being. A sui generis novel of ideas, Noggin demands much of its readers, but it offers them equally rich rewards."
March 2014 School Library Journal
"Travis Coates, 16, is dying of cancer, so he accepts an offer from a cryogenic group to have his head removed and frozen with the hope that it would be attached to another body in the future and he could be reanimated. Five years later, he "wakes up" with a new body and is still 16. . . . The premise of the story is interesting. . . . The author does a good job of describing the emotions and reactions of all of the characters."
School Library Journal - Audio
06/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—Five years ago, Travis Coates died at the age of 16 after a long, hard battle with leukemia. However, Travis was offered a chance to become the 17th test subject in a very unorthodox medical experiment, which involved cryogenically freezing his head and eventually bringing him back to life once science becomes more advanced. Science moves faster than either the doctors or Travis and his family ever imagined, and soon he is back with a healthy 16-year-old body thanks to a generous young donor. Kirby Heyborne fills Travis's voice with a realistic mix of pain, confusion, and the joy of being given a second chance, as he highers and lowers his pitch and volume. He also tackles the many people in Travis's life who had to grieve his loss and must now deal with his return from the dead—albeit with a different body. Heyborne matches his voice to each character, heightening it just enough for the female characters. This is a fascinating story that is sure to ignite lively debate in the classroom or simply as a family listen in the car. Though the topic is mature, there is no graphic content and only a bit of strong language, making this an ideal listen for middle school all the way up to adult. With a bit of selling, this is sure to be a popular audio choice.—Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI
SEPTEMBER 2014 - AudioFile
When 16-year-old Travis Coates dies from leukemia, he leaves his head behind to be cryogenically preserved for future re-animation. Upon waking five years later with a healthy donor body, Travis tells his miraculous story. Kirby Heyborne embodies every aspect of Travis: his bewilderment at his best friend’s return to the closet, his denial of his girlfriend’s upcoming nuptials, his disgust at finding his own ashes secretly stored at home in an urn, and his horror and sadness at discovering his parents’ divorce. Set against all these obstacles is the unwaveringly lovable voice of Travis’s new best friend, Hatton, who dubs him “Noggin.” Heyborne grounds each of Travis’s head and body jokes with a touch of sarcasm, making the unbelievable seem plausible. M.F.T. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-01-15
The madcap story of a boy who loses his head and finds it again. In the not-too-distant future, 16-year-old Travis Coates loses his head once—literally—after a deadly bout with cancer left him for dead. His head, cryogenically frozen as part of an experimental process to bring cancer victims back to life using donors, is the only thing that's left of him until he wakes up with it attached to the body of Jeremy Pratt in the Saranson Center for Life Preservation five years later. From there on out, Travis' life gets just as crazy as Whaley's bizarre setup. Lots of changes have taken place in five years, and Travis soon finds himself losing his head again, in the figurative sense. He has to drag his best friend back out of the closet, discovers terrible secrets about his parents, and pursues his old girlfriend, who is now 21 and engaged to another, great guy, to readers' cringe-inducing embarrassment on his behalf. Readers will recognize the Printz winner's trademark lovable characterizations in Travis' newfound BFF Hatton, who dubs him "Noggin" on his first day back at school. They'll also recognize the poignantly rendered reflections on life, love, death and everything in between. Weird? Yes. Great? Not quite, but it's pretty solid. It may be convoluted as hell, but Whaley's signature cadence and mad storytelling skillz are worth every page. A satisfyingly oddball Frankenstein-like tale of connectivity. (Fiction. 14 & up)