15 Mar / Someday [Every Day series] by David Levithan [in School Library Journal]
Constant corporeal manifestations aren’t mandatory for certain souls in David Levithan’s Every Day series: waking up in someone else’s body is ‘normal’ for some. A and X are two such wanderers, albeit with diverging agendas: A’s a respectful temporary visitor, X a parasitic usurper. Rhiannon and Nathan know these souls intimately: Rhiannon can’t let A go; Nathan barely escaped X’s control. In the series’ third installment, reunion inevitably looms.
Performed by a dozen readers, Someday features Alex McKenna of Every Day (2012) as A, Kathleen McInerney of Another Day (2015) reprising Rhiannon, with Will Damron as X, and Robbie Daymond as Nathan. The recording also includes Mark Bramhall, Tara Sands, Will Roth, Fred Sanders, Lorna Raver, Coleen Marlo, Vikas Adam, Tim Heller, who are each distinctly named at the opening. Despite the potential enhancements of a vast cast, careless direction mars the production when same characters are inconsistently read by different readers, resulting in unintentional multiple personalities. X is especially jarring, for example, presented (more accurately) as a growling manipulator by Damron, becoming unrecognizably scratchy-voiced in McKenna’s interpretation of X in A’s chapters.
Verdict: Audio could provide accessibility for reluctant readers, but more fluent audiences will likely prefer the page.
Review: modified from “Media,” Xpress Reviews, School Library Journal, February 1, 2019
Readers: Young Adult
Published: 2018