Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, 2011

Congratulations to John Corey Whaley, the 2012 winner of the Michael L. Printz Award! After hearing which title was this year's winner, I was able to place a hold on this book at the library, and just a few short days later it came in. As a side note, take advantage of your library's hold system. You'd be surprised how quickly holds arrive. And if you have several items on hold, you may be working on one before two more show up. It kind of paces you're reading. Love it.

Anyway, on to Where Things Come Back. Cullen Witter is your average teenager in Lily, Arkansas passing the summer in his small hometown by pulling shifts at the local convenience store. Life is humming along as usual with Cullen and his best friend Lucas killing time at their favorite swimming spot or on awkward double dates at the local drive-in movie theatre when things quietly swerve off course. Without any fanfare, Cullen's little brother Gabriel, a quirky and well-liked, march-to-the-beat-of-your-own-drummer 15 year old, disappears. One day he is there and the next he is gone. The Witters and all of Lily are at a complete loss without a single lead. Cullen struggles to keep up his regular routine with Lucas and is frustrated when the locals seem to care more about the sighting of a rare woodpecker thought to be extinct rather than his missing brother. At the same time, another seemingly unrelated story is told in alternating chapters of a young man on a mission trip in Africa who becomes disillusioned by what he thinks is his life's work. By the end of the book, these two stories have come together in unexpected ways.

I will be honest and say I was a bit disappointed by this award winner. The first few chapters presented this really intriguing premise, very likable characters, and I loved the sleepy, southern town setting. Whaley is a teacher in Louisiana, and I appreciate how he captured what it means to be seventeen in a small, rural town with gravel roads and long, languid summer stretched in front of you. However, the middle of the book is very drawn out, and although the stories come together in the last few chapters, there didn't seem to be a central focus, a strong theme. I think there was potential, but the characters didn't seem to have resolve in the end. Maybe I missed the point, but I didn't see change or growth in any of the major players, and I feel that is an essential aspect of a solid book.

All in all, I can think of many other young adult titles you should read before this one.


*Thanks Barnesandnoble.com for the picture!