Where Things Come Back (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781442413337)

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.

Author: John Corey Whaley
ISBN-10: 1442413336
ISBN-13: 9781442413337
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Language: English
Published: 05/03/2011
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.90d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.7
Point Value: 9
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 145199 / Where Things Come Back

Award: Michael L. Printz Award - Winner
Award: William C. Morris YA Debut Award - Winner
Award: Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens - Recommended
Award: Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize - Finalist
Award: Louisiana Teen Readers' Choice - Nominee
Award: Volunteer State Book Awards - Nominee

Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 05/01/2011
Publishers Weekly 04/11/2011
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2011
Voice of Youth Advocates 06/01/2011 - Recommended - Readable
School Library Journal 07/01/2011 pg. 110
Booklist 07/01/2011 pg. 56
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2011 - Recommended, Satisfactory
Publishers Weekly Best Books 11/07/2011 pg. 42