Cullen Witter lives in the town of Lily, Arkansas, population 3,947, where, he observes, most “people are complete ass-hats who tried and subsequently failed to leave this place behind.” Cullen’s distinctive voice, pessimistic and often funny, pulls readers into a complex and compelling story full of tension and surprise. When an ornithologist reports sighting a Lazarus bird, long believed to be extinct (think Ivory-Billed Woodpecker), Lily suddenly becomes the focus of national attention. Around the same time, Cullen’s younger teenage brother, quiet and brilliant Gabriel, vanishes. Cullen is frustrated with the ongoing attention the elusive bird receives while his family struggles to cope with uncertainty and grief. Meanwhile, Benton Sage, a young man filled with missionary zeal and a need to please his rigid father, becomes disenchanted with religion after recognizing his inability to influence the spiritual lives of others during a mission trip to Ethiopia. He returns to the United Sates, starts college, and shares his interest in the Book of Enoch with his charismatic roommate—all of which has dramatic consequence down the line when these two seemingly disparate storylines eventually intersect. John Corey Whaley’s debut novel explores themes of death, resurrection, and redemption; families and friendship; and loss and discovery. Whaley’s tightly plotted narrative in which the timeline proves to be critical unfolds through beautifully expressive writing that reveals richly developed characters and thought-provoking insights at every turn. (Age 14 and older)

Winner of the 2012 Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris Awards, this poignant and hilarious story of loss and redemption “explores the process of grief, second chances, and even the meaning of life” (Kirkus Reviews).

In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching summer before Cullen Witter’s senior year of high school, he is forced to examine everything he thinks he understands about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes absurdly obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and most troubling of all, his sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother, Gabriel, suddenly and inexplicably disappears.
Meanwhile, the crisis of faith spawned by a young missionary’s disillusion in Africa prompts a frantic search for meaning that has far-reaching consequences. As distant as the two stories initially seem, they are woven together through masterful plotting and merge in a surprising and harrowing climax.
This extraordinary tale from a rare literary voice finds wonder in the ordinary and illuminates the hope of second chances.