The Arrival of Someday

Image of The Arrival of Someday
Author(s): 
Release Date: 
July 23, 2019
Publisher/Imprint: 
HarperTeen
Pages: 
352
Reviewed by: 

“emotional, heartfelt, and moving. Lia and the people in her life are relatable and loving. Recommended for anyone who wants to more fully understand what it means to live with a life-threatening illness, or simply wants a deep and meaningful message.”

Eighteen-year-old Lia, or “Rolldemort” to her roller derby teammates and fans, is moving along just fine . . . until she’s not. When a flare-up of a rare liver disease puts her on the sidelines, she has to figure out who she is. Is she the confident, kick-ass, outspoken person she’s always been, or is she going to live out the rest of her life as Dying Girl? How is this going to change who she is?

“We’re all experts at self-preservation, right? We all purposefully choose to ignore the unpleasant things we don’t want to acknowledge. We climb onto dizzy-fast rides at two-bit parking lot carnivals that weren’t there last week and won’t be there the next. We use the TV remotes in our hotel rooms, even after watching those Dateline specials where the hosts take black lights to them and expose all the poop germs left behind by the previous guests. We eat sausages, which . . . what the hell is in those anyways? And if we bother to stop and really think about any of it, we shudder . . . and then push the knowledge away so we can carry on in denial.”

Lia’s best friend Sibby wants to turn Lia’s illness into a cause—propping up Lia as the poster child to get people to be organ donors. Lia’s parents and brother want to talk about it and “deal” with what’s happening. Her schoolmates regard her with pity or fear. The only person Lia can be around, who makes her feel even a little like her old self, is her brother’s friend Will. And that’s just because Lia made him promise not to talk about it.

As Lia and her family wait for a liver to come available, tensions mount between Lia and everyone who loves her. She is coming to a boiling point and doesn’t know how to deal with it. Finally, her mom sits her down to watch “Soldiers Coming Home, Most Emotional Compilations #26.”

“Mom gestures to the screen. ‘This sucker is guaranteed to have you sobbing your eyes out in two point five seconds, and if it doesn’t, I have a slew of others bookmarked.’

            I shake my head in disbelief. ‘You want me to watch sappy videos with you?’

            I’m relieved it isn’t anything worse than that, but also a bit skeptical.

‘I want you to let steam out of the pressure cooker. By crying over sappy videos, yes. The trick is you can keep it from being personal; the tears don’t have to be about you. You just have to release what’s in there. Okay?’”

The story follows Lia and her family and friends through this heartwrenching journey. How does someone keep living while she and everyone around her are afraid she is going to die? There has to be an answer.

This book is emotional, heartfelt, and moving. Lia and the people in her life are relatable and loving. Recommended for anyone who wants to more fully understand what it means to live with a life-threatening illness, or simply wants a deep and meaningful message.