Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

On the morning of January 23, 2012 in Dallas, Texas a room was filled with librarians, publishers, and interested folks, waiting in anticipation for the announcement of this year's American Library Association's Youth Media Awards. Teachers and school librarians unable to attend waited for the first announcements to reach us as we taught our students in schools around the U.S. One was the Michael L. Printz award.

The Michael L. Printz award is given each year to the book that exemplifies excellence in teen (YA) literature. This year the winner was Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley. Our 2012 Printz winner was also the recipient of another award - The William C. Morris award. This award is also for a YA book but by a debut author. John Corey Whaley is a debut author as this is his first published book. Congratulations to Mr. Whaley!

Winning the Printz award was reason enough for me to immediately begin reading it. Do NOT judge this book by it's cover. The cover would suggest that this book is about a woodpecker; yes, it is but it is much more than that.

Where Things Come Back has some bizarre twists and turns to the story. At times you may scratch your head and wonder what is going on. If you're an avid reader, you'll likely know that eventually the various threads that are woven will intertwine.

Cullen is a high school student living in a small town in Arkansas. The story opens with the death of his cousin. His aunt is devastated and Cullen has to identify the body. He manages that fine. Lily, AK is also a town in which a rare, thought-to-be extinct woodpecker, has been sighted. Bird watchers are descending on the town in hopes of seeing it. One morning Cullen awakes to find that his younger, fifteen year old brother is not home. Commotion ensues as his family tries to locate Gabriel but to no avail. Weeks pass, still no Gabriel. Cullen and his parents are frantic. The police have no leads. The case seems to be closed.

A parallel story also unfolds. Cabot Searcy is a college dropout seeking meaning to his life. He's a troubled young man seeking revenge for a lost love. That revenge takes him to Lily, AK where our two parallel stories begin to weave together.

A great read, a must read if you like to experience twisted tales with heartwarming endings.

Reviewed by Mrs. Boehm