Winner of the 2012 Michael L. Printz and William C. Morris Awards, this story of loss and redemption* “explores the process of grief*, second chances, and even the meaning of life.” Author John Corey Whaley is an American author from Louisiana.

    Just when 17-year-old Cullen Witter thinks he understands everything about his small and dull Arkansas town, things become different.

    In the summer before Witter’s senior year, a nominally* depressed* birdwatcher named John Barling thinks he sees a species of woodpecker* thought to be extinct* since the 1940s in Lily, Arkansas.

    His rediscovery of the so-called Lazarus Woodpecker starts a flurry of reports and woodpecker-mania*. Soon all the kids are getting woodpecker haircuts and everyone’s eating “Lazarus burgers.”

    But as absurd* as the town’s carnival* atmosphere has become, nothing is more surprising than the realization that Witter’s sensitive, gifted 15-year-old brother Gabriel has suddenly disappeared.

    While Witter makes his way through a summer of finding and losing love, holding his family together, and struggling with growing-up, a young missionary* in Africa, who has lost his belief, is searching for meaning wherever he can find it.

    As distant as the two stories seem at the start, they are thoughtfully woven closer together and through masterful plotting, brought face to face in a surprising climax.

    Complex but truly great, tinged with regret, comedy and absurdity, this novel finds wonder in the ordinary. It’s about a lot more than what Witter calls, “that damn bird.” It’s about the dream of second chances. (SD-Agencies)