Some of you WEbookers who have been around the block a bit will remember a fellow by the name of John Corey Whaley—the first author to find an agent using AgentInbox.
After connecting with all-star literary agent Ken Wright in the fall of 2009, Corey went on to live every debut author’s dream. His novel—Where Things Come Back—was picked up by Atheneum Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, in early 2010. We covered John’s path to publication over the next year and on May 3, 2011, Where Things Come Back was published.
Since that big day, Corey and his novel have received numerous accolades, including a New Voices for Teens Selection by ABC Children’s Group, a nomination for Best Fiction for Young Adults by the American Library Association, and an Indigo Books and Music Best Teen Books of 2011.
Most recently, Corey received the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature—one of the highest honors available to Young Adult authors!
We were thrilled to hear the great news. It seems like not so long ago we were filming videos of Corey from his kitchen in Louisiana, and now he’s winning literary awards for his amazing novel. It has been a truly great journey to witness.
We touched based with Corey and asked him about the moment he heard about the award. He said:
"When I got the call that I'd won the Printz Award, I was driving down the interstate and had to pull over on the side of the road to avoid causing a massive pile-up. It was the best, most dangerous news I've ever received."
We’re so glad you survived the news. Congratulations, Corey! Can’t wait to see where you fly to next!
If you haven't read Where Things Come Back, you're in luck. To celebrate Corey's win, we're giving away a free copy of his book to a lucky reader of this blog. Simply shout out a quick congratulations to Corey in the comments section, and be entered to win a free copy of Where Things Come Back from WEbook.
We'll pick a commenter at random and announce the winner on February 13!





