Where Things Come Back
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers,
2011.
228 pages
ISBN: 978-1-44241-333-7
Summary: In a drab unknown town off of
Interstate 40 in Arkansas, the local newspaper has two headline stories: the appearance of a Lazarus woodpecker and
the disappearance of Gabriel Witter; the tale is a terrible, bleak, and
complicated story; also it is two simultaneous paths concerning broken
families.
Genre: Young
Adult
Synopsis: The first plot begins with Cullen Witter’s summer before
college in a small town. The second plot is Benton Sage’s year before college
and his unsuccessful missionary trip to Africa.
Both males are loners; they struggle in their roles as family members; both
are inspiring writers. Also they are looking for second chances and ask what
all insecure teens ask: “Who am I?” and “What is life about?”
The book has controversy over its matured themes of sex, violence,
religious views—and equally its profanity.
Yet throughout there is a sense of caring. While teens have issues of
privacy and space, Cullen cares for his aunt and hugs her in spite of his being
uncomfortable. Other examples of caring
are: the dialogue of Lucas and Cullen, Ada and Cullen, Ada and Russell, and
Gabriel and his kidnapper. There is an
interchange of thought and feeling throughout the book which has a way of
bringing the author and his readers together.
Appeals
- Character-driven , coming of age plot
- Environmental theme
Read-a-Likes:
Novelist:
- The 10 p.m. Question by Kate DeGoldi
- Please Ignore Vera Dietz by S.A. King
- Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers
- Middle Row by Sylvia Olsen
- Wrestling Sturbridge by Rich Wallace
I love this book! I read it last semester in YA lit, and then I gave it to several other people to read. I think it is very poignant and hopeful. I would totally buy it for my YA/public lib!
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