Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
pages: 256
released: May 2011
publisher: Atheneum Books
cover love: ♥♥♥♥♥
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. (from goodreads)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON 1/31/2013 ON BOOKSLIKESTARS.NET
Review:
Last year, I had the opportunity to meet John Corey Whaley at the NYC Teen Author Festival and though I didn’t purchase his book, Where Things Come Back, at the time, the excerpt he read that day stuck with me a good long while afterwards. I remember him speaking about dead bodies and, of all things, woodpeckers. So I made a mental note to read it at some point. Nine months later, I grabbed a copy from a library shelf, just in case I didn’t like it.
I just got done finishing WTCB and I could slap myself for ever thinking such a thing. And I could slap myself for not buying the book that night in April and having Mr. Whaley sign it for me (really regret this).
As debuts go, could WTCB have been any more perfect? I mean, hats off to this author, who had me so emotionally attached to the story and its characters that the final paragraph had me in tears (a rarity with me and books). I loved that the author gave his characters unique names, like Cullen and Benton, Mena and Cabot, instead of opting for generic ones you’d usually find in a book set in a small town. But what most impressed me was the story’s main character, seventeen year old Cullen Witter. He’s the narrator for most of the story and just reading from his POV, his tone of voice, and words he uses, you get the sense that he’s a real person speaking to you, telling you about what it’s like living in Lily, Arkansas and hanging out with his best friend, Lucas Cader. What it’s like watching your family slowly deteriorate after his 15 year old brother, Gabriel, goes missing. How it feels to live in a town that’s more mesmerized over an extinct bird than a missing person. He’s honest, which leaves him to come off as a jerk to some but more so as genuine. It really was Cullen’s dark and humorous personality that made the book stand out from many other contemporary books I’ve read in the past. One notable instance when I felt connected to Cullen was when he expressed his fears about things that come back and things that don’t, a repeated theme throughout the book, whether it was about a bird or people. Being very self aware and knowing he doesn’t have any big plans for the future like college, he worries if he will end up dying in Lily without ever making it in the big world. Or that he will get out and come right back as a failure.
Some parts of WTCB are centered around a religious boy named Benton Sage and his college roommate, Cabot Searcy and at first it throws you off because you have no idea why or what they have to do with Cullen but trust me, they are very important pieces. You may even go as far as to call them the catalyst for Cullen and his family’s distress.
For me Where Things Come Back was many things: Brilliant. Sad. Dark. Hopeful. Funny. Intense. Believable. Blessed. I was wrong on so many levels to doubt its potential. And yes, I’m going to buy a copy ASAP.
5