Where Things Come Back

by John Corey Whaley

Book Overview

Winner of the 2012 Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris Awards, this poignant and hilarious story of loss and redemption "explores the process of grief, second chances, and even the meaning of life" ( Kirkus Reviews ). In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching summer before Cullen Witter's senior year of high school, he is forced to examine everything he thinks he understands about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes absurdly obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and most troubling of all, his sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother, Gabriel, suddenly and inexplicably disappears. Meanwhile, the crisis of faith spawned by a young missionary's disillusion in Africa prompts a frantic search for meaning that has far-reaching consequences. As distant as the two stories initially seem, they are woven together through masterful plotting and merge in a surprising and harrowing climax. This extraordinary tale from a rare literary voice finds wonder in the ordinary and illuminates the hope of second chances.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1442413344
• ISBN13: 9781442413344
• Release Date: July 2012
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Decent Read

The causality of the the writing reminded my of Me Earl and the Dying Girl. I felt the storyline was something I hadn’t read before however it felt hard to understand at first. I think the best audience is 9th - 12th.