WHERE THINGS COME BACK
JOHN COREY WHALEY
character anylasis
John Corey Whaley describes small town living with all of its exciting details from the perspective of a kid named Cullen Witter, Cullen and his family live in Lily and have been there for a long time. When Cullen's younger brother simply disappears without a trace one day, Cullen and his best friend Lucas are devastated. Cullen's mother and father, and Gabriel's best friend, Libby Truett, are also shocked and unhappy. two weeks after Gabriel's disappearance, a man named John Barling showed up in town, having come from Oregon, and tells that he's seen a Lazarus woodpecker, which is extinct for the last sixty years. which leads a little too gabriel.
conflict
it turns out that gabriel has to depend on what he,Gabriel and that God had sent him to repair the damage that he had done the first time. Gabriel must maintain his composure in order to keep his life, while his family struggles with the idea that he might be dead. When he finally returns to Lily, and Cullen sees him walking up the driveway, he isn't sure Gabriel is real at first. He touches him without speaking and then knows for sure that in Lily, things come back. that explains to how the title portains to the meaning of the book.
evaluation
I really think that Where Things Come Back will be a classic someday. It’s exactly the kind of thing a teacher would make you read, but in a good way. It explores themes ranging from loss, to existential angst is a feeling of dread resulting from the realization that you actually can do anything , to the meaning of life. Whaley imbues each of his characters with a unique and believable voice. He also manages to pull off both the inverted timeline thing and the “daydream written as if it’s actually happening” thing without causing confusion or frustration on the part of the reader.