WHERE THINGS COME BACK

By John Corey Whaley

Image Credit: http://www.ala.org/yalsa/sites/ala.org.yalsa/files/content/booklistsawards/bookawards/morris/2012/whaley_web.jpg

1. Bibliography:
Whaley, John Corey. Where Things Come Back: A Novel. New York: Atheneum for Young Readers, 2011. Print. ISBN: 9781442413337

2. Plot Summary:
WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley is a realistic fiction story about a seventeen year old boy named Cullen.  Cullen is bored in the little town of Lily, Arkansas and wants to leave this town when he gets older, but is afraid that he will come back just like other people in town. His life changes completely when the sighting of a rare woodpecker is believed to have taken place and the sudden disappearance of his brother Gabriel.

3. Critical Analysis:
At the beginning we are introduced to the main character Cullen who is identifying the dead body of his cousin at the morgue. Then we are introduced to Benton Sage. The reader is left wondering what these two characters have to do with one another throughout most of the book.  Even when Benton Sage commits suicide the reader is still trying to figure out how these stories are related.

Cullen is the main character in the story who goes through many teenager situation including the dislike of his small home town and getting the girl he wants.  Cullen is portrayed as the angry teenager who could care less.  Cullen has an imagination that includes various stories with his friends turning into zombies to save the day. The reader is left wondering why the story includes zombies even at the end.

Cullen's dislike for his small home town is evident throughout the book. "Thoughts like having to come back to take care of a sick parent and getting stuck here all over again. That's what happened in Lily. People dreamed. People left. And they all came back. It was like Arkansas's version of a black home; nothing could escape."

The theme of the story seems to be getting second chances.  After Gabriel mysteriously disappears and then returns, Cullen is given a second chance to be a brother again.  Other characters in the story get second chances as well including Alma Ember and Mena Prescott.

This story is written for students in high school or above due to the use of profanity and reference to sex.

4. Review Excerpts:
~2012 Michael L. Printz Award

~2012 William C. Morris Award

~BOOKLIST 2011 "What will hold readers most is the moving story of Cullen’s beloved younger brother, who suddenly goes missing, leading to mystery, heartbreak, and an astonishing resolution on the very last page.

~KIRKUS 2011: "Unexpected, thought-provoking storytelling. (Fiction. 14 & up)"


5. Connections
~Have students write various titles about certain times in the life. Then have the students write the story of one title.