Review: Where Things Come Back

Author: John Corey Whaley
Published: July 24th 2012
Publisher: Atheneum BfYR
Paperback, 256 pages
Buy: The Book Depository




If there's one thing I've learned in the two and a half years since I joined GoodReads, it’s this: when Maggie Stiefvater recommends a book, I read it. Period. She had nothing but praise for John Corey Whaley’s award-winning debut so I ordered it with no questions asked. I just did it because Maggie said so.

Where Things Come Back is such an unassuming little book. It’s like that small, quiet kid in class other kids never even notice, but if they did, they’d see that he is well-read and fiercely intelligent and has a bright future ahead of him.


In Lily, Arkansas, Cullen Witter is living his average life with his average parents and his not-so-average younger brother. He works at a grocery store, doesn’t really understand girls and is generally pretty socially awkward. Then one day Cullen’s brother Gabriel disappears without a trace and his whole life gets turned upside down. To add insult to injury, the people in Lily are more obsessed with a supposedly extinct woodpecker than with a missing sixteen-year-old.

On the other side of the world, Benton Sage is having doubts about the nature of his mission in Africa. He feels that handing out food and a prayer isn’t enough to save people. He wants to do God’s work, and passing out food, water and Christ as quickly and efficiently as possible seems far too simple and not nearly enough.

The two stories come together in a very unexpected way that is sure to take your breath away.

Whaley has an amazing talent for telling extremely dramatic stories in a decidedly non-dramatic way. Throughout the book, Cullen seems oddly detached, almost unfeeling, but even when you catch glimpses of his emotions, they’re not outbursts but rather quiet confessions from a character who would much rather remain unnoticed. This character, and most Whaley’s characters, really, are amazing in their simplicity and all of them are unique, from desperate mothers to religious fanatics.

What you need to know about me is that I don't like to hug people with whom I'm not romantically involved. I also don't really like to shake people's hands, sit close enough to touch someone, or feel other people's breath on my skin. If you're the type of person who likes to do any of those things, then I won't pretend to understand you.

Although it won both the William C. Morris Award and the Michael L. Printz Award, Where Things Come Back is not for everyone. It has the feel of a classic and I’m certain it’s on its way to become one, but like all classics, it requires a certain amount of patience and trust in its author. If you have that, this beautiful little literary gem will undoubtedly find its place among your favorites.