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Where Things Come Back John Corey Whaley Books

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Where Things Come Back John Corey Whaley Books

I'm pretty sure Amazon wouldn't let me quote the first chapter of the book in the review because it would get flagged for inappropriate language. The only teens that should be reading this are - perhaps - nineteen year-olds. There is just an unusual amount of gratuitous cursing in the book - almost as if the author thought this is what kids talk like so they would think the book was "hip" if he wrote with that kind of language. I know that I won't be letting my kids read this one. Too many good options out there without having to wade through a curse-word per paragraph or more.


Tags : Amazon.com: Where Things Come Back (9781442413337): John Corey Whaley: Books,John Corey Whaley,Where Things Come Back,Atheneum Books for Young Readers,1442413336,FBA-|293435,Family - Siblings,Social Themes - General,Arkansas,Best friends,Best friends;Fiction.,Extinct birds,Families - Arkansas,Family life - Arkansas,Friendship,Interpersonal relations,Interpersonal relations;Fiction.,Missing persons,Missing persons;Fiction.,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Family & home stories (Children's Teenage),Family - General,Fiction,JUVENILE,JUVENILE FICTION Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile FictionFamily - General (see also headings under Social Themes),Juvenile Grades 10-12 Ages 15+,TEEN'S FICTION - GENERAL,United States,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family Siblings,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Humorous General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),coming-of-age; coming of age; growing up; John Green; Printz; Morris; humor; relationships; friendship; perks; wallflower; seventeen; award-winning; debut; Cullen; small town; Arkansas; summer; woodpecker; birdwatcher; Gabriel; missing child; missing brother; brothers; second chance,Family - General,JUVENILE FICTION Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),Juvenile FictionFamily - General (see also headings under Social Themes),YOUNG ADULT FICTION Family Siblings,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Humorous General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes General (see also headings under Family),Fiction,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Family & home stories (Children's Teenage)

Where Things Come Back John Corey Whaley Books Reviews

This book surprised me. It was funny, tragic, melancholic, hopeful, and absurd. The thing I was most surprised about was the writing. One moment you would be reading in first person point-of-view, then all of a sudden you would be reading in third person point-of-view. I found it odd, but it made me pay more attention to those sections, which I feel might have been the point of them. They were a mix of what he was seeing, mixed with his hopes and imagination.

This book takes place in Lily, Arkansas, a little town in the middle of nowhere over the course of a summer. At the beginning of summer before Cullen Witter's senior year of high school, his cousin overdoses, his town becomes obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker, and his younger brother Gabriel, goes missing. Though I wouldn't believe that a story of loss could be both absurd and heartfelt, this book does a wonderful job of doing both.

At the same time, the story also follows a missionary in Africa who is searching for meaning of whatever he can find. These stories collide in a very surprising way—one that I was not expecting. For a while, I was wondering what on earth this missionary had to do with Cullen Witter's story, but as I soon found out, he does play an important part.

I loved this book. It is filled with moments that made me laugh, and moments that made me sad. If you are a fan of John Green's books, then you would love this book!
Cullen Witter is not unlike the other 17 year olds in small town Lily, Arkansas, spending his summer juggling a part time job and his crush on high school heartbreaker Ada Taylor. However a few days into what Cullen anticipates to be a slow summer vacation, he wakes up to find his teenage brother, Gabriel, having seemingly disappeared into thin air. As the weeks go by with no leads into Gabriel’s whereabouts, Cullen and his family struggle to maintain normalcy. To make matters worse, Gabriel’s disappearance is largely ignored by the local media who are preoccupied by the reappearance of the Lazarus woodpecker, long assumed extinct by American ornithologists. While the town scrambles to capitalize on their sudden turn in the spotlight, the Witters privately work towards finding answers.
Interwoven with Cullen’s narration is the story of Georgia missionary Benton Sage and the unexpected ways in which his discovery of an abandoned religious text changes the course of his life and those around him. As their timelines converge, it becomes clear the way in which the smallest acts affect history.
Where Things Come Back is John Corey Whaley’s first novel, earning him the Michael L. Printz Award and William C. Morris Debut Award in 2012. Whaley’s greatest achievement is bringing teenage protagonist Cullen to life. His unique narrative voice shapes the novel as Cullen attempts to grapple with his grief. Smart, sarcastic, and imaginative, Cullen frequently day dreams dark and fantastic scenarios in which he converses with woodpeckers, bullies receive their due, and Gabriel returns home. Where Things Come Back is an engaging story about family, fate, and faith that keeps readers engrossed until the last page.

Reviewed by Grayce Jones
Actual rating 3.5 stars

Admittedly, I picked up this book solely due to buzz on some blogs and the awards it had received with little idea what it was about before turning the first page. It did take me a while to get into, but once I got hooked, I loved it. I guess because I’m not a huge fan of the mystery genre – I do like mystery, but not detective and sleuth novels. If it’s entwined in a larger plot I tend to enjoy it more – and that is what happened with ‘Where Things Come Back.’

The symbolism in this book is massive – and if you read them right, there is a depth in meaning reflecting society, attitude and the mystical. But the narrative also feels lazy, indicative of the slow paced townsfolk, and I have to believe that was on purpose to bring an ambiance around this tale.

There is a certain dry, dark undertone, just as there is a resilience, maturity and sense of fate. All of which make this novel literature, as opposed to a mass market paperback. I enjoyed the elements of sophistication, but appreciated that on the surface it’s a story about a boy hoping to find his kidnapped brother, frustrated at the towns distracted mentality around the celebrity of the Lazarus Woodpecker.

I did enjoy the ending – and it kept me guessing right up until the end. With a contemporary you can never be completely confident of the outcome. But the conclusion wraps everything up succinctly in a way that echoes in your head for a while afterward.

It could be a little busy for a younger audience, not necessarily understanding the nuances of the story. Plus that dryness I mentioned, slowed the pace somewhat, where on occasion I wanted to skip forward. I was also frustrated in some parts – masterfully elicited by the narrative – which diminished my enjoyment level because I like to escape with uplifting stories through my reading.

This is a great book, something I would recommend to read. There is boatloads of meaning hidden beneath its words, a quaint story, but not the most enjoyable read. But I’m glad to have added it to my collection. I can see why it has won the awards it has.
I'm pretty sure wouldn't let me quote the first chapter of the book in the review because it would get flagged for inappropriate language. The only teens that should be reading this are - perhaps - nineteen year-olds. There is just an unusual amount of gratuitous cursing in the book - almost as if the author thought this is what kids talk like so they would think the book was "hip" if he wrote with that kind of language. I know that I won't be letting my kids read this one. Too many good options out there without having to wade through a curse-word per paragraph or more.