Springhill native named finalist for the National Book Award
John Corey Whaley, a Springhill native and former English teacher at Youree Drive Middle School, has been busy for the last few years.
His debut novel “Where Things Come Back” released to great success, which led to his being named one of the “5 Under 35” young fiction writers by National Book Award winners and finalists in 2001, as well as receiving the 2012 Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. His second novel, “Noggin,” released in April, has been named a finalist in this year’s National Book Awards for Young People’s Literature. The winners of the National Book Awards will be named in a ceremony Nov. 19 in New York City.
Whaley is thrilled about his nomination. “I was sort of in shock, so the president of the National Book Foundation (they call the day before the public announcement is made) is explaining it all to me, and I’m just trying to pay attention without cheering in his ear and hanging up to call my mom and dad,” he said.
“‘Noggin’ is about Travis Coates, who is dying. And then, he isn’t dying anymore because he volunteers to have his head frozen (in the hopes that it can one day be reanimated). As it turns out, this actually works, and five years later, Travis wakes up attached to someone else’s body. Oh, also, his girlfriend is now 21 and engaged to be married. So, he’s got to get her back, right? Calamity ensues,” Whaley said.
“With ‘Noggin,’ I wanted to write a story with an absurd premise, but ground it in emotional reality. I wanted it to be equal parts goofy and dramatic.”
Whaley always wanted to be a writer.
“Honestly, I was never very good at anything else. I wanted to be an artist or a musician, but I’m terrible at both. And I went to college to study journalism, but hated telling true stories,” he said. “I also had teachers in high school who encouraged me to write fiction.”
After completing his debut novel, “Where Things Come Back” in 2007, the road to getting published stretched out in front of him. “I wrote ‘Where Things Come Back’ so long ago [in 2007], and I’ve written [and decided not to publish] two books since then. My big break into publishing came after almost four years of trying to get a literary agent to take me on as a client. I sent a sample to [Ken Wright], and he requested and read the whole book in just a few days. Then, within two months, my editor at Simon and Schuster made an offer on it. It was all so fast and exciting after waiting so long.”
Not only is “Noggin” a National Book Award Finalist, but shortly before its release, Whaley sold the rights to the book for film production.
“I had tried to get some movie attention for ‘Where Things Come Back’ when it came out in 2011, but was disappointed when nothing came of it. So, when my literary agent put me in touch with my film agent, who had read and loved ‘Noggin,’ I was very excited but also pretty apprehensive about getting a movie made. But, to my surprise, we had interest from several producers and studios, and ended up selling the rights to Lionsgate with Jamie Linden attached to write and direct. I’m not directly involved with the process, but I know a screenplay is being written as we speak.”
“Where Things Come Back” and “Noggin” are both published by Simon & Schuster, and are available at Barnes and Noble in Shreveport. Whaley now lives in Los Angeles.
–Mandy Byrd
