Where It All Goes Down
Modern Day, Someplace Coastal
Most of Will's story takes place in and around a high school program for troubled kids, which the locals call "Hopeless High" (520). (Stay classy, locals.) Special Programs is intended to be "occupational therapy" (520), a place for Will and other kids to learn new skills, such as woodworking, but Will thinks of it less as therapeutic and more as the "rehab ward" for "dead-enders" (515), where everyone is "either stupid or dangerous or hiding out." What matters most is that Will doesn't want to be here, and also that he's been forced to after his parents' deaths.
What also matters, however, is that despite not wanting to attend this school and doing so against his will, is that Will is really good at woodworking. And since his statues contribute to both the mystery that unfolds in the story (they show up near dead bodes) and to Will's recognition that he has skill and value, though he might hate to hear it, this school is a major player in his life.
We don't know a whole lot else about Will's surroundings, other than that they seem to be relatively modern and that he lives near the ocean. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to visit it so often. To dig into the ocean in this story, though, hop on over to the "Symbols" section.