Someday

Review by Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Here is the third thought-provoking novel about Levithan's intriguing character A, the 16-year-old boy (or is he a boy?) who wakes up each day in a different body. As before, he is in love with a girl named Rhiannon, but, given his here-today-gone-tomorrow condition, he wonders how anything could come of his love for her. Accordingly, he has cut off contact and she misses him terribly so she in concert with Nathan, whose body A had once occupied begins to search for him. Unfortunately, someone else is also searching for him: X, a psychopath who had previously occupied the body of the evil Reverend Poole, who is now dead. Happily, Rhiannon and Nathan find A first and he and Rhiannon reconnect. But there is much to think about in their reunion. What does the word relationship mean for them? Can they maintain their connection? A also questions his condition of being, the ethics of occupying someone else's body, and whether or not there are others like him (there are, and Levithan takes readers inside their lives). Things become even more complicated when X, whose condition is identical to A's, finally tracks him down. Like the other two books about A, this is a novel of ideas that challenges readers to wonder if someday there will be another novel about these wonderful characters. One hopes so. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The movie version of the first book in this trilogy, Every Day (2012), should increase this volume's visibility.--Michael Cart Copyright 2018 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-The saga of A, a teen who awakens each day in a different person's body, comes to a close. In earlier installments, A, who identifies as neither male nor female, fell in love with Rhiannon while in the body of her boyfriend. The two attempted to forge a bond, but A assumed a relationship between them could never work and disappeared. Now Rhiannon looks for A with Nathan, a teenager left reeling when A inhabited him-a rare misstep for A, who's scrupulous about leaving their hosts unaffected. Enter X, a malevolent body swapper hell-bent on teaching A to use their abilities for ill. Though X is at times cartoonishly evil and his fascination with luring A to the dark side goes unexplained, he infuses the narrative with some much-needed conflict, as the romantic angst of the first two books is wearing a bit thin. Notably, Levithan expands the world beyond Rhiannon and A. He draws parallels between other body swappers living in the margins and communities hit hard by President Trump's policies and the rise of hate groups. The recent March on Washington is a vibrant backdrop for the story's climax, but the quieter victories that conclude the tale are far more powerful, encouraging readers to take pride in what sets them apart. VERDICT A must for libraries with patrons eager to see A and Rhiannon's tale through.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

In Every Day (rev. 11/12) and Another Day (rev. 7/15), we learned that A wakes up each morning in a different persons body. Someday alternates between As point of view and the perspectives of those affected by A (love interest Rhiannon; former host Nathan) as well as other body travelersincluding X, who inhabited Reverend Poole in the earlier books. X has learned to game the system, controlling how long he stays in each new body and treating the bodies original inhabitants with disregard, at best. (Though A is gender-neutral, X identifies as male even on days he presents as female.) Xs creepy quest for power adds tension without sacrificing the series emphasis on character; the more-considerate A offers insights into each days host. The presence of multiple body travelers also brings perspective on how the traveling works and how it intersects with personal identity. Some preachiness combined with an Equality March on Washington make the continued themes of peoples commonalities and the need for understanding of differences easy to spot, but at the same time, suspense makes it easy to keep turning pages. shoshana flax (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A's not the only one who moves from body to body every day. There are others. And one of them wants to track A down.A month after A's disappearance, Rhiannon is now dating Alexanderthe last body A inhabited before taking off. While Alexander makes a great boyfriend, Rhiannon isn't quite over A. Soon, Nathan (another body A inhabited) shows up at Rhiannon's door, seeking information. The two band together to devise a plan to get back in contact with A. But their meeting also brings danger, as the malevolent X (formerly introduced as Poole) threatens and harms Nathan on his own quest to reconnect with A. Does he really just want to talk? Or are X's intentions more sinister? The fast pacing and lyrical prose will draw readers in, but the philosophical questions will linger. Levithan's (The Twelve Days of Dash Lily, 2017, etc.) latest expands on its predecessors by including multiple body-switching narrators while retaining a main focus on Rhiannon, A, Nathan, and X. Using his ability to gain privilege and wreck the lives of those he inhabits, X serves as an unsettling foil for A. A more peacefully inhabits a diverse cast of humans, whose experiences briefly touch on the likes of bullying, mental health, and poverty.More self-reflective morality tale than star-crossed romance, this sequel brightly illuminates the world beyond A and Rhiannon. (Fiction. 12-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Rhiannon       Every time the doorbell rings, I think it might be A. Every time someone looks at me for a beat too long. Every time a message arrives in my inbox. Every time the phone displays a number I don't know. For a second or two, I fool myself into believing.    It's hard to remember someone when you don't know what they look like. Because A changes from day to day, it's impossible to choose a memory and have it mean more than that single day. No matter how I picture A, it's not going to be what A looks like now. I remember A as a boy and as a girl, as tall and short, skin and hair all different colors. A blur. But the blur takes the shape of how A made me feel, and that may be the most accurate shape of all.   A has been gone a month. I should be used to it. But how can there be any separation when A is in so many of my thoughts? Isn't that as close as you can get to another person, to have them constantly inside your head?   As I'm thinking all these things, feeling all these things, I can't let any of them show. Look at me and you will see: A girl who has finally buried the remains of her last bad relationship. A girl with a great new boyfriend. A girl with friends who support her and a family that isn't more annoying than any other family. You will not see anything missing--you will not sense the part of her that's been left inside someone else. Maybe if you look into her eyes long enough and know what to look for. But the point is: The person who knew how to look at me like that is gone.   My boyfriend, Alexander, knows there's something I'm not telling him, but he's not the kind of guy who wants to know everything. He gives me space. He tells me it's fine to take things slow. I can tell that he's fallen for me, that he really wants this to work. I want it to work, too.   But I also want A.   Even if we can't be together. Even if we're no longer near each other. Even if all I get is a hello, and not even a how are you?--I want to know where A is, and that A thinks of me at least some of the time. Even if it means nothing now, I want to know it meant something once.       The doorbell rings. I am the only one home. My thoughts race to A--I allow myself to picture the stranger at the door who isn't really a stranger. I imagine the light in his eyes, or maybe her eyes. I imagine A saying a solution has been found, a way has been devised to stay in the same body for longer than a single day without hurting anyone.   "Coming!" I yell out. I'm stupidly nervous as I get to the door and throw it open.   The boy I find there is familiar, but at first I don't recognize him.   "Are you Rhiannon?" he asks.   As I nod, I'm realizing who he is.   "Nathan?" I say.   Now he's surprised, too.   "I know you, don't I?" he asks.   I answer honestly. "It depends on what you remember."   I know this is dangerous ground. Nathan is not supposed to remember the day that A was in his body, borrowing his life. He is not supposed to remember the way he and I danced in a basement, or anything that happened after.   "It was your name," he says. "I kept thinking your name. Like when you wake up from a dream and there's only one part you can remember? That's what your name was. So I went online and checked out all the Rhiannons who live near me. When I saw your picture . . . I felt like I'd seen you before. But I couldn't remember where or when." His hands are starting to shake. "What happened? If you have any idea what I'm talking about, can you please tell me what happened? I only have pieces. . . ."   What kind of rational person would ever believe the truth? Who wouldn't laugh when someone tells them it's possible to move from one body to another? That's how I reacted at first.   The only reason I stopped being rational was because something irrational happened to me. And I knew it.   I can see that Nathan knows it, too. Still, I warn him, "You're not going to believe me."   "You'd be amazed at what I can believe at this point," he replies.   I know I need to be careful. I know there's no going back once the story is out. I know he might not be trustworthy.   But A is gone. A can't be hurt by this. And I . . . I need to tell someone. I need to share this with someone who at least partly deserves to hear it.   So I let Nathan in. I sit him down.   I tell him as much of the truth as I can.     Excerpted from Someday by David Levithan All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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