Where Things Come Back

A quirky coming-of-age story, perfect for fans of John Green, David Levithan and Stephen Chbosky. Just when seventeen-year-old Cullen Witter thinks he understands everything about his small town, everything changes. His sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother Gabriel has suddenly and inexplicably disappeared. Then a birdwatcher thinks he spots the Lazurus woodpecker - a species thought to be extinct since the 1940s. Sparking a flurry of press, the small town erupts into woodpecker mania. Soon all the kids are getting woodpecker haircuts and everyone's eating "Lazarus burgers". Cullen must navigate his way through a summer of finding and losing love while also holding his fragile family together. Meanwhile a young missionary in Africa, who has lost his faith, is searching for meaning wherever he can find it. As distant as they seem, these stories are thoughtfully woven ever closer together and before a surprising and harrowing climax. Complex but truly extraordinary, tinged with melancholy and regret, comedy and absurdity, this novel finds wonder in the ordinary. It's about a lot more than what Cullen calls, "that damn bird." It's about the dream of second chances.