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Where Things Come Back

3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 · rating details · 5,549 ratings · 1,216 reviews

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 un...more

ebook, 228 pages

Published May 3rd 2011 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

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Jan 26, 2012 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: oh-no-biiiiiiirds, welcome-author, why-yes-i-ya

what an unexpectedly delightful book.

i was given an ARC of this and i looked at it and said "gak - biiirrrddss!" and figured i would read it when i got around to it. after some awfully gentle prodding, i got around to it and i read the damn thing in one day, tearassing through it with great glee and awe.

this book is a sad and unpredictable gem.
but with plenty of moments of humor.

it opens with a death-by-overdose and a million instances of the word "ass-hat" - a word i had never heard before bein...more
what an unexpectedly delightful book.

i was given an ARC of this and i looked at it and said "gak - biiirrrddss!" and figured i would read it when i got around to it. after some awfully gentle prodding, i got around to it and i read the damn thing in one day, tearassing through it with great glee and awe.

this book is a sad and unpredictable gem.
but with plenty of moments of humor.

it opens with a death-by-overdose and a million instances of the word "ass-hat" - a word i had never heard before being on this site, so it grabbed my attention right from the start, and i placed in that mental category of "books that would never have been marketed to kids when i was a kid", when we had to read sanitized books while walking uphill both ways yadda yadda.

and then it really gets going,and blossoms into two separate stories that eventually dovetail, but not in a way that is predictable. this book kept playfully yanking the rug up from under my feet until it finally all came together. this is great writing.

the best thing about this book is that it feels like magical realism even though there is nothing decidedly magical about it.it just feels like there is something subterranean that wants to push through and release all this crazy stuff into the text, but it is just being carefully suppressed, like a laugh at a funeral. there is a lingering presence of magical possibility that is felt but never revealed.

mostly it is quietly sad. it doesn't make a big tearful spectacle of itself, even though since the centerpiece of the story is the disappearance of a fifteen year old boy, it could have easily gone that route. but its moments of sadness manifest themselves in small and understated scenes; details really.again, it is very cleverly handled.

the only thing i wasn't crazy about was his single writer's quirk: to insert paragraphs beginning with "when one" as in "when one is lying on the floor of his bedroom exactly ten weeks and three days after his brother has vanished off the face of the earth, he begins to imagine a grandiose scene." which punctuate the narrative as these little distancing techniques the narrator uses to slip into a world of fantasy, often about zombies, which is fine, but the repetition of the phrase "when one is" got on my reading nerves a little, like a skip in a record.but overall a charming and endearing book, and i will read any book this man ever writes, hopefully as an ARC so i can get in there before anyone else.(less)

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May 05, 2011 Lyndsey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pov-alternating, 3rd-person-limited, 1st-person, about-religion-or-religious-subtext, galley-grab, about-sibling-bonding-or-rivalry

Oh, Cullen Witter, would one please stop talking about oneself in third person?

Where Things Come Back is told mostly from the first person perspective of the young man, Cullen Witter (well, except for when he often talks about himself in the third person) whose fifteen year old brother disappears. Cullen lives in a small town town that just happens to be obsessed with woodpeckers, specifically the long-presumed extinct Lazarus Woodpecker. Both the town and Cullen Witter develop a strong obsessio...more

33 likes · like · see review

Jan 10, 2013 Maja rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-a-dtb, 2012-favorites, amazing-writing, contemporary-fiction, favorites, male-pov, multiple-povs, surprise-surprise, ya, reviewed-in-2012

If there's one thing I've learned in the two and a half years since I joined GoodReads, it’s this: when Maggie Stiefvater recommends a book, I read it. Period. She had nothing but praise for John Corey Whaley’s award-winning debut so I ordered it with no questions asked. I just did it because Maggie said so.

Where Things Come Back is such an unassuming little book. It’s like that small, quiet kid in class other kids never even notice, but if they did, they’d see that he is well-read and fiercely...more If there's one thing I've learned in the two and a half years since I joined GoodReads, it’s this: when Maggie Stiefvater recommends a book, I read it. Period. She had nothing but praise for John Corey Whaley’s award-winning debut so I ordered it with no questions asked. I just did it because Maggie said so.

Where Things Come Back is such an unassuming little book. It’s like that small, quiet kid in class other kids never even notice, but if they did, they’d see that he is well-read and fiercely intelligent and has a bright future ahead of him.

In Lily, Arkansas, Cullen Witter is living his average life with his average parents and his not-so-average younger brother. He works at a grocery store, doesn’t really understand girls and is generally pretty socially awkward. Then one day Cullen’s brother Gabriel disappears without a trace and his whole life gets turned upside down. To add insult to injury, the people in Lily are more obsessed with a supposedly extinct woodpecker than with a missing sixteen-year-old.

On the other side of the world, Benton Sage is having doubts about the nature of his mission in Africa. He feels that handing out food and a prayer isn’t enough to save people. He wants to do God’s work, and passing out food, water and Christ as quickly and efficiently as possible seems far too simple and not nearly enough.

The two stories come together in a very unexpected way that is sure to take your breath away.

Whaley has an amazing talent of telling extremely dramatic stories in a decidedly non-dramatic way. Throughout the book, Cullen seems oddly detached, almost unfeeling, but even when you catch glimpses of his emotions, they’re not outbursts but rather quiet confessions from a character who would much rather remain unnoticed. This character, and most Whaley’s characters, really, are amazing in their simplicity and all of them are unique, from desperate mothers to religious fanatics.

What you need to know about me is that I don't like to hug people with whom I'm not romantically involved. I also don't really like to shake people's hands, sit close enough to touch someone, or feel other people's breath on my skin. If you're the type of person who likes to do any of those things, then I won't pretend to understand you.

Although it won both the William C. Morris Award and the Michael L. Printz Award, Where Things Come Back is not for everyone. It has the feel of a classic and I’m certain it’s on its way to become one, but like all classics, it requires a certain amount of patience and trust in its author. If you have that, this beautiful little literary gem will undoubtedly find its place among your favorites.

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Apr 28, 2011 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, books-websites-gave-me, 2011, ya, braaaains

I won a book! I won a book on First Reads!

Where Things Come Back is a YA debut novel about a disgruntled teen in small town Arkansas (is there any other kind?). 17-year-old Cullen Witter would be an emo teen if Lily was big enough to support fringe subcultures. But he's got all the attributes: over-sensitive, journal-writing, picked on by jocks (every town has those), unlucky in love (until, of course, he becomes extremely lucky in love, a twist integral to the plot, but whatever).

The book take...more

23 likes · like · see review

Apr 21, 2011 Isamlq rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll keep this short: I needed this. After a series of ~~really shitty~~ not so good reads over the past couple of days, Where Things Come Back reassures me that there are stories worth the effort of not sleeping.

My one complaint though is that it’s cover does not give what’s inside justice. That aside, I really enjoyed this book, the characters and how things came together.

On one hand there’s Cullen, and on the other there’s Benton: two people not connected at all, but through a series of events,...more

13 likes · like · see review

Jan 09, 2012 Maggie Stiefvater rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

Five Things About WHERE THINGS COME BACK

1. So. This book takes place in Lily, Arkansas, but it could take place in Nowhere, Virginia, as well, a place I am well acquainted with. It takes place in a small town the same way that my life took place in a small town —not in a surface way, not in a Hollywood way, but in a way that touches every bit of your life. Not good or bad, really, just . . . grit and dust and gross gas stations and lots of church. I appreciate that it feels effortlessly real, no...more Five Things About WHERE THINGS COME BACK

1. So. This book takes place in Lily, Arkansas, but it could take place in Nowhere, Virginia, as well, a place I am well acquainted with. It takes place in a small town the same way that my life took place in a small town — not in a surface way, not in a Hollywood way, but in a way that touches every bit of your life. Not good or bad, really, just . . . grit and dust and gross gas stations and lots of church. I appreciate that it feels effortlessly real, not like Whaley is trying to convince me that it’s real. It just is what it is.

2. This book is about a guy sighting an extinct species of woodpecker in Lily, Arkansas. Actually, it’s not. That is there, but it’s subtext and it’s delightful. The reappearance of the Lazarus woodpecker stands for everything that Lily, Arkansas needs and everything that Lily, Arkansas wants. Well done, Book.

3. This book is actually about Cullen Witter and the day his brother Gabriel goes missing. I know what you’re thinking, because I was thinking it too. Whatever. I’m not normally a terrible person — okay, that’s a lie, I am a terrible, jaded person — but I really didn’t care about Gabriel’s fate when I opened this book. I was not really in the mood to read a quiet book about a boy coping with his brother’s disappearance. In fact, before picking it up, I informed one of my friends that all I wanted to do was read a book about helicopters, guns, and magic and I didn’t have a book that fit that description in my house, so I guessed I’d just read this one. This book had such an uphill climb in winning my affection. Even when it made me laugh in the first two chapters, I resented it. “How dare you make me laugh, quiet book? Do you have any helicopters? Any guns? Any magic? No? THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT. Shut up!” The book did not shut up. And it turned out, I didn’t need any helicopters or guns or even any magic.

4. There are weird chapters from other people’s points of view. Again, I began my dialogue with the book. “Book, why are you telling me these things? Aren’t we supposed to be in Arkansas right now? Shouldn’t we be going home now?” I am here to promise you that those chapters not only eventually make sense, but also dovetail so delightfully with the main text that I was left saying only “well played, Book. Well played.”

5. It doesn’t really matter what this book is about. It’s a good book about a good kid and it’s a good story told remarkably well. In the last third, I thought there was no way that Whaley could really finish this in some way that I’d both believe and like, and . . . he did. So. Well played, Book. Well played.(less)

71 likes · like · see review

Apr 05, 2011 Tatiana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, 2011, ala-ya-2012, printz

3.5 stars.

Where Things Come Back is a pretty good debut effort (and not so good choice of cover). A little hard to describe though.

17-year old Cullen Witter is passing his time in a tiny Arkansas town. There is nothing interesting or exciting going on. Cullen is simply waiting for his final high school year to be over and to move on to a life less dull. Everything changes when Cullen's younger brother Gabriel suddenly disappears. If Cullen thought his life was bad before, it becomes unbearable n...more 3.5 stars.

Where Things Come Back is a pretty good debut effort (and not so good choice of cover). A little hard to describe though.

17-year old Cullen Witter is passing his time in a tiny Arkansas town. There is nothing interesting or exciting going on. Cullen is simply waiting for his final high school year to be over and to move on to a life less dull. Everything changes when Cullen's younger brother Gabriel suddenly disappears. If Cullen thought his life was bad before, it becomes unbearable now.

On the other side of the world, in Ethiopia, 18-year old Benton Sage works as a missionary. Soon, however, he abandons his work in search of an occupation that could utilize his skills and his calling better.

The best part of Where Things Come Back (besides the fact that it is compulsively readable and hard to put down) is how these two seemingly unrelated story lines come together through years and continents.

What is not so great about this book is that I think it lacks focus. Cullen's part of the story is primarily a study of grief. It follows Cullen and his friends and relatives and shows how they deal with the disappearance of Gabriel. It is a fragmented narrative where characters appear and disappear and go through hard times emotionally. Their episodic appearances are mostly with no beginnings or endings. I suppose it is reflective of real life and maybe this randomness of life is the main point of the whole novel, but in my fiction I expect and like a better defined, tighter story.

Benton's part is even less solid. He is just a link in a chain of events that eventually connect the two story lines.

In the end, I can't help but compare Where Things Come Back to similarly themed Once Was Lost. Zarr's book is definitely a more rounded, better shaped work.

Whaley's book, on the other hand, is more amorphous and muddy in what it tries to say, but not without its kernels of wisdom. I particularly liked this one: ...Life has no one meaning, it only has whatever meaning each of us puts on our own life.(less)

24 likes · like · see review

Apr 26, 2011 Eh?Eh! is currently reading it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-read, babble-added

Holy crap! I WIN!!!! May this streak never end.

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 25, 2012 Martha rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

6 likes · like · see review

May 14, 2011 tim rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to tim by: karen

Not bad for my first first-reads win. Somehow I overlooked the YA designation when entering the contest. Regardless, I was mostly able to get over myself regarding the intended readership and enjoy this anyway. I do have some minor qualms with the book, but I don't feel like focusing on them because overall this is a fine story. I haven't read any other YA books to compare this with, but it stands up pretty well to, and reminded me at times of some very good adult fiction I've recently read and...more

4 likes · like · see review

Aug 16, 2011 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, fiction

This is an entirely different novel from what I thought I was picking up, and I am so very glad. Where Things Come Back has a mystery in it, but the focus on the characters--particularly, the coming of age of Cullen, who tells the story--drives the reader to truly care about what happens. It's not the "who dunnit" that matters here at all, which is both surprising and refreshing. Rarely do I feel so entirely connected to characters, and more rare is a novel that makes me believe, even for a mome...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Klee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting to read at the same time as Okay for Now - boys and birds, who knew they went so well together?

Every part of this book rings true; adolescent diaglouge, variety of believable family relationships; the struggle of a teen boy to deal with vitally emotional issues instead of turning typical teen drama into high drama. The point at which the readers realizes ,i events and characters collided only intensifies the desire to know the outcome. The author's use of language, however, keeps it...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Emily Hunholz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: growing-up, real-life-problems

I enjoyed reading “Where Things Come Back.” Cullen’s voice is humorous and sarcastic and magnetic—he really draws you into the story. About a quarter of the book is written in 3rd person, and it was fun to guess how the two narratives would come together (I didn’t see it coming!). I definitely could have done without the zombie and woodpecker hallucinations. They were a bit much for me. Also, when one is writing a story in 1st person, one should not refer to oneself as “one.” That annoyed me a l...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Kwoomac rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, award-winning, dark, death, fast-read, missionaries, printz-award, reviewed, young-adult, spring-2012-challenge

This book started out so great. I was seventeen when I saw my first dead body. For me, it just didn't sustain that initial pull. The format flipflops between two stories, culminating in their inevitable collision. I loved the chapters which focussed on Cullen Witter. He's a seventeen year old boy, dealing with more than his share of problems. (see above). His younger brother Gabriel disappears one day, leaving no clue behind. I was riveted by his story. We watch as his world slowly crumbles. He...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Worst summer ever.. Cullen's pre- Sr. year summer starts out with identifying his drug addicted cousin's body, and, weeks later, his younger brother Gabe goes missing. And stays missing.. all summer. His entire small town is freaking out, he tries to keep it together for his parents and his aunt, but he is 17 and does not know what to do. Girls who never gave him the time of day before are now throwing themselves at him, his friend Lucas spends every possible minute helping in any way Cullen wil...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Paige added it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, romance, mystery

So I'll start this review by saying that the book has been getting a lot of buzz. It recieved a starred review from Publisher's Weekly ; the book was nominated for a William C. Morris Debut Award; the author was named a 20 Under 30 author by NPR; and the author was a Flying Start Author (again from PW ). I'm sure there have been more reviews/buzz/etc, but those are the ones I can think of off of the top of my mind. Award books usually make me interested, not only because of the connotation tha...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Jen (A Reading Daydreamer) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Where Things Come Back is a touching story about religion, missing brothers, and woodpeckers. Wait, what? Yes, you heard me right. WOOD FREAKING PECKERS.

As mentioned above, Where Things Come Back is quite heavy on the religion. Now, if you've been following me on Twitter for a while now, you probably know that I HATE World History class, and when we were learning about world religions, it was pretty much death for me. When religion was first brought on in the book, all I could think was, "Oh no,...more Where Things Come Back is a touching story about religion, missing brothers, and woodpeckers. Wait, what? Yes, you heard me right. WOOD FREAKING PECKERS.

As mentioned above, Where Things Come Back is quite heavy on the religion. Now, if you've been following me on Twitter for a while now, you probably know that I HATE World History class, and when we were learning about world religions, it was pretty much death for me. When religion was first brought on in the book, all I could think was, "Oh no, here we go AGAIN." But after awhile, I got used to it, and it actually was kind of… nice. The religious aspect part of the story was more there to symbolize hope, I think. It was a nice touch, as well as beautiful.

The story itself is complex and as many little storylines in the story. In Where Things Come Back, the story is told between different point of views, between Cullen Witter, the main character, Benton Sage (a religious boy in Ethiopia), and even Cabot Searcy (arrives later in the novel). All of their stories somehow intertwine and it is quite magical to see it happen. There is even areas in the novel where Cullen takes the reader back to his past.

Where Things Come Back is such a unique story. I mean, have YOU ever read a YA fiction novel with woodpeckers involved? I know I haven't, until now. The aspect of woodpeckers included in the story was totally random, and totally relevant. It's spontaneous, but it makes sense for it to be there. Everything fits and came together very well.

And may I talk about Cullen for a second? I have weird feelings about Cullen. For me, I couldn't really identify a character trait to describe him. It's quite hard. He wasn't full of fun, but he wasn't boring and selfish either. But he was one thing--interesting. He has so many thoughts and ideas and the way he analyzes things is very entertaining to read about.

Lastly, Mr. John Corey Whaley's writing. It was hard to get into at first, because of the complexity I'm not normally used to. But his writing quickly becomes soothing and easy-going. I loved it.

Where Things Come Back earned an abundance of awards for a reason, because it's a breathtaking story that leaves the reader pondering. If you liked Jellicoe Road or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you'll definitely enjoy this one.

5 Teacups for Where Things Come Back!

THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON A Reading Daydreamer:
http://a-reading-daydreamer.blogspot....

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Jan 26, 2013 Allison R rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, family, mystery, faith

I didn't love this book but I didn't hate it. Lot of book was kind of confusing and it had WAY to many story lines going on at the same time. Kind of reminded me of the movie Crash with some many story lines and then in the end they all kind of intertwined with the others.

The writing kind of reminded me of John Green.

Wasn't a fan of Cullen but I loved his brother Gabriel. I didn't like how there were two characters that were kind of similar and their names started with "A", kind of confused me.

I...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Alethea rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

OH MY GOSH. I want to interview this man. Fantastic book.

I disagree about the cover. I just love Grady McFerrin's artwork. It's definitely not a mainstream choice for YA. More like R.A. Nelson, Natalie Standiford, or Beth Ann Bauman. His other YA book cover is the little-known The Book of the Maidservant. The cover also reminds me of

Full review forthcoming.

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Apr 12, 2012 Molly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Unique book! I really enjoyed the story, particularly the ending. There are two stories being told, and I spent the entire book trying to make the connection. I love a great surprise! The author was inspired by Sufjan Stevens and has released a playlist that he listened to while writing this novel.

I would definitely recommend this book to a friend!

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Apr 15, 2012 Cara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, lis-614, teen-fiction, trc-12

Once again, I feel like I am in the minority when it comes to an award winner. This book won both the Printz and Morris awards this year. I didn't really like it. I do not like books where the reader has to interpret the ending. I also didn't really care for the simultaneous story lines.
The writing itself was well done. I just can't see recommending this book to teen if I ever want them to take my recommendations seriously again. This is a book that could definitely be considered adult. Adults...more

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Apr 22, 2011 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: realistic

I loved this book! (not sure the cover will be appealing to teens)
Things have begun to disappear in Cullen's life: his brother, his family, his sanity, and his sense of direction. And amongst all of these things disappearing, the once-thought extinct Lazarus Woodpecker bird reappears in his small town, giving everyone hope at a second chance.
I immediately fell in love with the characters: Cullen, Gabriel, Lucas, Meena, etc. Cullen reminds me of a more lovable and hopeful Holden Caulfield.

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 07, 2012 Emma added it · review of another edition

The way Cullen Witter sees it, everyone is looking for someone, at least in the small town of Lily, Arkansas, where he lives. That couldn’t be more true than during the summer Cullen is seventeen, when everyone in town is looking for the Lazarus Woodpecker, which was supposed to be extinct and has allegedly been spotted in Lily. Everyone is obsessed with the woodpecker, because in a town no one can seem to escape from, the Lazarus gives them hope. There are people who are always looking for thei...more The way Cullen Witter sees it, everyone is looking for someone, at least in the small town of Lily, Arkansas, where he lives. That couldn’t be more true than during the summer Cullen is seventeen, when everyone in town is looking for the Lazarus Woodpecker, which was supposed to be extinct and has allegedly been spotted in Lily. Everyone is obsessed with the woodpecker, because in a town no one can seem to escape from, the Lazarus gives them hope. There are people who are always looking for their destiny and there are people who have lost someone and will always be looking for that person in everyone they meet. Cullen is looking for himself, and just wants to know why he does the things the things he does. But everything changes when his younger brother Gabriel goes missing. Suddenly nothing makes sense and the bird that was just an annoyance and maybe the savior of his hometown is now distracting everyone from Gabriel’s disappearance. As the town searches for the woodpecker in a frenzy and the Witter family searches for Gabriel, Cullen can’t help but wonder if what everyone is saying about the Lazarus woodpecker is true and Lily really is the place where things come back.

Often I feel like there are so many books I have to read and so little time to actually read them. Lately I’ve been feeling the opposite: that I’ve already read all the good books and there isn’t anything else left. Now, I know that this isn’t true, but I still have been feeling this way. Thankfully, Where Things Come Back got me out of my rut. To put it simply, this is a very good book. I’m going to update my “Books for Fans of John Green List” by adding this book to the list. It is John Corey Whaley’s first novel, and I thought that it was well written, while being original and perceptive. The plot was well constructed, and the characters were realistic and full of depth. In a town where everyone tries to fit people into a bubble or a label, Whaley wrote characters that broke free of this and were more than what people saw them as. There were a lot of little things I liked about this book, like Cullen’s never ending list of book titles, the themes and the symbolism. How everything came together in the end was very satisfying, and I thought that the plot was cleverly planned out. The one thing that bothered me while reading was Cullen’s habit of referring to himself in the third person. It worked well at first but it quickly got repetitive. I liked the way it made him sound detached from everything, but having him do it repeatedly annoyed me. All the same, this book was incredibly insightful story about loss and hope.

4/5(less)

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May 21, 2013 Manda rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: beauty-ambiguity-allegory, philosopher-creator-storyteller, all-for-one-and-one-for-all, brothers-sisters-crazies, here-be-uncovering-truth, holy-crap-what-moment, jump-yer-bones, male-pov, meh-story, rom-lite, small-towns, smells-like-teen-spirit, started-ok-ended-great, twists-have-twists, thought-id-like-it-more

This took a bit of effort to read, especially at the beginning. The book is split between chapters of a first-person narrative by Cullen Witter, a teenager in the small town of Lily, Arkansas, and third-person narratives of other characters that influence the story. The problem with this structure is that at first, there doesn't seem to be any relation between the two stories, so it's a bit difficult to get invested as you're jumping back and forth between the descriptions of one boy's summer bo...more

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May 14, 2013 Bob Prhs rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Cullen Witter lives in a weird little town where everyone knows everyone (sound familiar?). He has problems common to many young people: an embarrassingly lame job; a goddess of a schoolmate who doesn't even know he exists; a quirky, larger-than-life friend who won't shut up. But then everything changes: Cullen's smart, perfect little brother disappears.

At the same time, an oily newcomer to town spots a woodpecker everyone thought was extinct. The town becomes gripped in a woodpecker frenzy, and...more

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May 11, 2013 Sueij rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Warning: Huge spoilers in this review. Absolutely do not read unless you have already read it, will never read it, or completely do not care that I will give away the biggest secret of the story.

OK, having said that...

I couldn't stand this book. I would have put it down two chapters in, except for my book club. They all insisted it would be good because it won the Printz Award, and I try hard to finish all book club books. Prior to the spoiler, two things, mostly.

1. This book was clearly not pi...more Warning: Huge spoilers in this review. Absolutely do not read unless you have already read it, will never read it, or completely do not care that I will give away the biggest secret of the story.

OK, having said that...

I couldn't stand this book. I would have put it down two chapters in, except for my book club. They all insisted it would be good because it won the Printz Award, and I try hard to finish all book club books. Prior to the spoiler, two things, mostly.

1. This book was clearly not pitched for me. It's a Young Adult book, and I am 41. I am wildly not the intended audience. Now, Harry Potter is a YA book, too, and is fantastic and holds my interest completely, so it's not that I think YA *can't* appeal to adults. But this is just intended for people in a different life space than me, and I spent most of the book thinking that I would give it at least 3 stars out of respect for the fact that if the right audience was reading this book, it was probably pretty good.

2. One of the major things that didn't work for me that might well work for a teenager was that the bulk of the novel was a young person stuck in a dinky little town with few personal choices and things happening *to* him but him doing very little to change what is going on around him. I can't stand stories like that. There's no STORY there. Being a passive recipient is not, to me, worthy of a book. But then, being a teen can feel like that, so again... maybe that is just part of being the wrong audience.

(Here comes the spoiler, and why I hated the book and will trash it to anyone who asks.) Then came the part where the mystery got solved. The mystery is that Cullen's brother Gabriel disappeared without a trace one day. Here's what happened: Cullen had a date that evening with Alma, who was just back in town and getting a divorce from Cabot, who didn't want to let her go. Cabot had flown into an airport an hour away the night before, rented a car, and driven to Alma's house. He talked to her mother and to her. He found out she had a date with Cullen. He went to a convenience store, talked to a young clerk, and found out where Cullen lived. He drove around and asked several people for directions. Then he got there, mistook Gabriel for Cullen, and abducted him.

In a town of 4000 people... where everyone knows everyone. If the police could do even a half-assed job, then when they investigated, they would have found out about the date, the impending divorce, and the psychotic almost-ex. They would have found out he had been in town, had flown in but not out. They would have found the license plate of the rental car... that he clearly did not have money to rent. They would have searched for the missing psychotic almost ex-husband... and found Gabriel.

The mystery DOES NOT HOLD TOGETHER. Not one bit. Not even remotely. The whole thing falls apart unless you consider the police completely incompetent, and everyone in town who was involved in helping a stranger find the street where a boy went missing to be deaf, blind, and dumb.

And even young adults deserve much better books than that.(less)

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May 08, 2013 Sydne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"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...more "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."
-Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, Goodreads

CHARACTERS:4.5/5
Cullen Witter was a great character, he was smart and witty, which I like very much in my characters. I liked the relationship that he had with his brother, Gabriel and his best friend, Lucas. The only thing I did not like about him was that he would talk about himself in third person sometimes like this "When one does blah blah..." and so on and so forth. Though it was annoying at times, I got past it and really enjoyed Cullen's point of view. There was also a third person point of view alternating between chapters, but about different people. I liked this change between perspectives. I thought that it would confuse me, but it surprisingly did not.
PLOT:4.5/5
I found the plot very interesting and the town it was set in reminded me of mine, where everyone knows who you are and knows your business. At first I thought "Well this plot isn't very original", but was I wrong? Yes! The ending was crazy and maybe I'm just extremely unintelligent and everyone knew what was going to happen but me. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but either way I was in quite a bit of shock. Though I was in a terrible bit of shock, I still thought the ending was great! There was only one thing I did not like about this glorious ending! I had so many questions at the end. I think the author wanted to keep you thinking about what happened next, but I needed to know so badly.
OVERALL:4.8/5
Everyone should read this it was so good!
(less)

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May 02, 2013 Life Between Coffee Spoons rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This entire novel carries a very quirky surreal, magical-realism feel while maintaining a real sense of normalcy during abnormal times. It follows the story of 17-year-old Cullen whose 15-year-old brother suddenly disappears just as his small town descends into woodpecker mania over the sighting of a supposedly extinct bird. Intertwined is a side story that's honestly too complicated to even begin to explain, but does eventually tie into the primary narrative in an unpredictable way.

I'm kind of...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Leo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is much deserving of it's Printz prize, I think. After reading several YA books recently with multiple perspectives hat have been technically amateur, with plots not that far away from a teen drama, I've been pretty underwhelmed by the YA genre.
That is, until I read this.
The narration is immediately very careful and well chosen, the imagery created of the town of Lily, Arkansas, is beautiful.
The plotline is very carefully woven, although I will say- it really isn't until well over hal...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't agree with the 3.8 rating. I think it was a wonderful read and here is why:

This book completely exceeded my expectations. It's memorable, a classic- perpetual. Although it was a bit confusing at the beginning and pretty hard to get into, by the end of the book, I felt so satisfied and happy. I love when a book has a really interesting story. Quality writing and quality storytelling make a really, solid book.

There was a perfect balance between seriousness and hilarity. When it needed to...more

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About John Corey Whaley

John Corey Whaley grew up in the small town of Springhill, Louisiana. He has a B.A. in English from Louisiana Tech University, as well as an M.A in Secondary English Education.

He currently teaches at a middle school in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 2008 he was a semi-finalist for the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award.

Where Things Come Back is his first novel.

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“Life, he says, doesn’t have to be so bad all the time. We don’t have to be anxious about everything. We can just be. We can get up, anticipate that the day will probably have a few good moments and a few bad ones, and then just deal with it. Take it all in and deal as best we can.” — 57 people liked it

“Your mind has a way of not letting you forget things you wish you could. Especially with people. Like, you'll always try your best to forget things that people say to you or about you, but you always remember. And you'll try to forget things you've seen that no one should see, but you just can't do it. And when you try to forget someone's face, you can't get it out of your head.” — 43 people liked it

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