Where Things Come Back
by John Corey Whaley
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley is assigned in US schools at grades 9–12. It appears across 1 curriculum reference, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.
This page shows where Where Things Come Back is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.
- Grade range
- Grades 9–12
- Pages
- 272
- Reading time
- about 5 hours (est.)
- First published
- 2012
- ISBN-13
- 9781442413344
Where to find this book
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About this book
"Seventeen-year-old Cullen's summer in Lily, Arkansas, is marked by his cousin's death by overdose, an alleged spotting of a woodpecker thought to be extinct, failed romances, and his younger brother's sudden disappearance."--Title page verso.
Where this book is assigned
Michael L. Printz Award
- recommended·9th gradesource: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2012 Printz Award
- recommended·10th gradesource: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2012 Printz Award
- recommended·11th gradesource: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2012 Printz Award
- recommended·12th gradesource: Michael L. Printz Award winners (American Library Association), via Wikipedia — 2012 Printz Award
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Common questions
- What grade level is Where Things Come Back?
- Where Things Come Back is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 9–12. Specific grade placement varies by curriculum — AP Literature and IB English Literature typically use it in grades 11-12.
- How long does it take to read Where Things Come Back?
- It takes about 5 hours to read Where Things Come Back (272 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 300 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
- What curricula assign Where Things Come Back?
- Where Things Come Back appears on reading lists for Michael L. Printz Award. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
- Is Where Things Come Back banned in schools?
- Where Things Come Back does not appear in PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2022-2024. No documented multi-district removals on record, but individual districts may challenge titles locally.
Why this book is on this list
Each dimension below is sourced from a public reference. The full framework is documented on the classification standard page.
- Lexile measure
- Not classified — this book has no published Lexile measure.
- Grade band
- Grades 9–12 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
- Curriculum alignment
- Cited in 1 curriculum on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
- State-level evidence
- Not yet documented in a state-level framework on this site.
- Removal / banning records
- No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
- Seasonal / contextual tags
- Tagged for: award-winner.