Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Someday, Somewhere
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.lindsaychampion.com/
CITY: New York
STATE: NY
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
EDUCATION:New York University, graduated.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Broadway.com, New York, NY, features editor; PureWow (digital media company), New York, editorial director. Previously, worked as a closed caption writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Lindsay Champion is a writer based in New York City. She holds a degree from New York University. Champion worked as a closed caption writer before landing a position as features editor of the Broadway.com website. She has gone on to become the editorial director of a digital media company called PureWow.
In 2018, Champion released her first novel, a book for young adults called Someday, Somewhere. The volume tells the story of a romance between two very different young people. Dominique “Dom” lives with her single mother, who runs a laundromat, in Trenton, New Jersey. They struggle to make ends meet. Dom aspires to become a professional dancer, but her mother is unable to afford her dance lessons anymore. Her father, who is from Ecuador, is not part of her life. Dom’s best friend is a boy named Chris (also called “Cass”), who hopes to work in film in New York after they graduate high school. the two go on a class trip to see a performance at the Brighton Conservatory. There, she is impressed by a talented violinist named Ben. Dom has a chance encounter with Ben, who is wealthy, white, and Jewish, and the two are drawn to one another. Dom lies about her circumstances to impress Ben. It becomes clear that Ben struggles from issues with his mental health. The two begin a romantic relationship, navigating each of their personal challenges.
In an interview with Jenn Christensen, contributor to the Hello Jenny Reviews website, Champion discussed what inspired her to write the book. She stated: “Child prodigies have always fascinated me. Where does their incredible talent and skill come from? … So the book started with the character of Ben, a violin prodigy who is grappling with the darker sides of his gift. I listened to a lot of classical music while researching and writing, and when I stumbled on Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata, I realized it captured so much of the energy of Ben’s story. As I began to structure the story around the sonata (three movements, two alternating instruments), the puzzle pieces started fitting together.”
Someday, Somewhere received favorable assessments. Elizabeth Nebeker, contributor to Voice of Youth Advocates, commented: “The story uses musical terminology throughout, and like a great piece of music, it flows smoothly.” Nebeker predicted that the volume would appeal to “young adult readers who like romantic stories.” “The story unfolds at a satisfying clip, surprising readers who expect a formulaic ending,” noted a Kirkus Reviews writer. The same writer stated that the book offered “romance—and a lot more besides.” Amanda Shepard, reviewer in Booklist, remarked: “Readers will get lost in the musical romance Champion has created and be inspired to follow their … dreams.” A Publishers Weekly critic suggested: “Champion, in her debut novel, effectively balances a whirlwind romance with sobering realities.” “This story about first love will engage readers with the lyrical voices of the characters,” wrote Cathleen Ash in School Library Journal. Ash added: “Teens will root for Dom and Ben.” Elaina Whitesell, contributor to the Cleaver website, opined: “Beginning with simple tropes, the narrative slowly weaves a complex world of thought and emotion and becomes richer as the story unfolds. … Champion’s novel serves as a good marker for what a contemporary teen love story should be: entertaining and focused on a broader human betterment, without skipping over the trials of the modern world.” Reviewing the volume on the Boomerang Books website, Cait Drews asserted: “Someday, Somewhere by Lindsay Champion was an absolute excellent and heart shredding book. … It balanced emotion and complex characters and had such tight pacing. … The details made the settings leap off the page. And every character felt real and complex, even if they weren’t mentioned very often.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 1, 2018, Amanda Shepard, review of Someday, Somewhere, p. 51.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2018, review of Someday, Somewhere.
Publishers Weekly, February 26, 2018, review of Someday, Somewhere, p. 94.
School Library Journal, January, 2018, Cathleen Ash, review of Someday, Somewhere, p. 85.
Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2018, Elizabeth Nebeker, review of Someday, Somewhere, p. 54.
ONLINE
Boomerang Books, https://blog.boomerangbooks.com.au/ (March 1, 2018), Cait Drews, review of Someday, Somewhere.
Cleaver, https://www.cleavermagazine.com/ (July 3, 2018), Elaina Whitesell, review of Someday, Somewhere.
Hello Jenny Reviews, http://hellojennyreviews.blogspot.com/ (April 1, 2018), Jenn Christensen, author interview and review of Someday, Somewhere.
Lindsay Champion website, http://www.lindsaychampion.com/ (July 2, 2018).
My Morning Routine, https://mymorningroutine.com/ (July 2, 2018), author interview.
LINDSAY IS...
...a YA author living in the best place on earth, New York City. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she spent most of her time doing high kicks and eating falafel. After a stint as a closed caption writer (best memory: captioning the first six Rocky movies for TV), she served as the Features Editor at Broadway.com, where she somehow managed to interview her celebrity crushes Paul Rudd, Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal without fainting or peeing her pants. She is an editorial director for the digital media company PureWow, where she sits in an extremely tall building and eats snacks.
Her first novel, Someday, Somewhere, hits store shelves April 3, 2018.
Lindsay Champion
Lindsay Champion is a YA (Young Adult) author whose first novel, Someday, Somewhere, hits shelves in April. Serving as the food and wellness director at digital media company PureWow, Lindsay currently lives in New York City.
Lindsay Champion
What is your morning routine?
My alarm goes off at 5:00am. I know, it’s early. Excessively early.
To be honest, waking up before dawn is tough—I’m not even really a morning person. But my best creative work happens early, when my mind is still floating in and out of consciousness, so I’m always craving that dreamy creative energy I can only get while the rest of the world is asleep. So I have no choice. I set my alarm, and I do it.
First, I meditate for ten minutes. Then I write fiction for about three hours, snuggled under a blanket on the couch, until 8:00am, trying to stay in the fuzzy in between of asleep and awake. I write all of my fiction on my MacBook Air, in Microsoft Word. I also keep a digital log of how many words I write each morning, how I feel the writing session went, and how many hours of sleep I’ve gotten the night before. On a good morning, I’ll write between 1,500 and 2,000 words, but there are definitely a few 300-word mornings on there. (Unsurprisingly, if I’ve gotten fewer than six hours of sleep, my word count is usually lower.)
I’ll then get up and shower, and if it’s nice out, walk the two miles from my apartment in the East Village to my office in New York City, which includes a lovely 10-block walk on the Highline. I’m in the office just before 10, feeling creatively fulfilled, energized, and ready to start my day job.
How long have you stuck with this routine so far?
There was one year where I really wanted this to be my routine, but I’d get to bed too late, or I’d have a fight with my alarm in the morning and end up sleeping until 6:00 or 7:00am. Then I’d spend the rest of the day feeling awful because I’d cut my writing time short.
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Now that it’s become a habit, waking up early and moving through my routine has become almost like brushing my teeth; I don’t even think about it. I’ve been doing it for about two years—now I pop up out of bed at 5:00am most mornings, ready to go.
How has your morning routine changed over recent years?
I feel way more centered and energized when I exercise in the morning, but in the winter I have to replace my 45-minute walk to and from work with, ugh, a 45-minute subway ride. I have a tough time carving out exercise as regularly when it’s cold outside, and I’m still fine-tuning to find a consistent place to include it.
What time do you go to sleep?
On a good night, 10:30pm. On a not-so-good night (read: at least half the time, who am I kidding?), somewhere between 11:00pm and midnight. I can feel normal on anywhere between six and eight hours, but I try to get at least seven as often as I can.
Do you do anything before going to bed to make your morning easier?
I always pick out what I’m going to wear the night before, otherwise I invariably have some sort of wardrobe-related meltdown ten minutes before I’m supposed to leave the house.
Do you use an alarm to wake you up in the morning, and if so do you ever hit the snooze button?
I use my phone as an alarm, and plug it into the outlet by my desk, which I purposely place as far from my bed as possible. There’s no point in hitting snooze and going back to sleep if you’re already standing up and 15 feet away from the bed.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast, and what do you typically have?
I might have mentally willed myself into becoming a morning person, but my body still refuses to digest anything before about 11:00am, so I’ll stick with water and sometimes a cup of black tea before then. Even when I do finally get around to breakfast, it’s usually extremely light. A handful of almonds or an apple—and once or twice a week when the work kitchen is stocked, a bowl of cereal with almond milk.
Do you have a morning meditation routine, and if so what kind of meditation do you practice?
I take ten minutes when I first wake up to sit quietly, take slow, deep breaths, and clear my mind. I’m a huge fan of the teachings of Pema Chodron. One of her suggestions is to breathe in a very concentrated version of whatever you’re feeling at that given moment—whether it’s stress or fear or sadness—and let it consume your entire body. After taking ten or so breaths like this, the feeling starts to melt away into a sensation of peace. It sounds counterintuitive, but it really works for me.
Do you answer email first thing in the morning or leave it until later in the day?
Often, I’ll check my email briefly before I start writing, to make sure nothing urgent has popped up overnight. But I always, always regret it. I only have these three precious hours a day to work on fiction, and I’m on email constantly for the other 14 or so hours I’m awake. So, as tempting as it is to check my phone first thing in the morning, I try to keep it turned off until I leave for work.
I’m working on breaking the habit by giving my phone a “bedtime.” If I make my phone off-limits from 10:00pm to 9:00am, I sleep better and I’m way more productive in the morning.
What and when is your first drink in the morning?
I typically drink two glasses of water before I get started on the black tea. (The only time I ever drink coffee is right after lunch, when I start to feel an afternoon slump.)
Do you also follow this routine on weekends, or do you change some steps?
On the weekends, I follow a more relaxed version of my weekday morning routine, for sure. If it were up to me, I’d totally sleep until noon, but sadly I started getting something called “weekend migraines,” which is basically a blinding headache that’s brought on by a deviation in routine. Apparently it’s the release of stress in the body that causes them. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
I usually wake up at around 7:00am on weekends. I’m not as rigid with the morning routine as I am during the week, but I try to devote major blocks of time to writing fiction, promoting my new book (answering emails, visiting bookstores, making graphics, updating my website, etc.), going to the gym, and doing yoga. It’s the only part of my week that isn’t packed with meetings and appointments, so I prefer to keep the late morning and early afternoon as flexible as possible, with built-in time to get brunch with my equally-busy fiancé, get a manicure, or run errands.
On days you’re not settled in your home, are you able to adapt your routine to fit in with a different environment?
This is something I’m still working on. I’d love to be one of those people who can adapt to any situation, but I’m not a great traveler and my routine usually falls by the wayside. (I love reading your other interviews for tips on how to hack this!)
What do you do if you fail to follow your morning routine, and how does this influence the rest of your day?
If I have a late night and it looks like I’m going to get fewer than five hours of sleep, I’ll try to sleep in. But I always regret it—when I do my morning routine, I become the best version of myself.
If you enjoyed reading this morning routine interview, and have found value in what we’ve been doing for the past five years, it would mean the world to us if you could tell your friends and family about our book, and consider getting a copy for yourself.
Jan 3, 2018
QUOTED: "Child prodigies have always fascinated me. Where does their incredible talent and skill come from? ... So the book started with the character of Ben, a violin prodigy who is grappling with the darker sides of his gift. I listened to a lot of classical music while researching and writing, and when I stumbled on Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata, I realized it captured so much of the energy of Ben's story. As I began to structure the story around the sonata (three movements, two alternating instruments), the puzzle pieces started fitting together."
Lindsay Champion is a YA author living in the best place on earth, New York City. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she spent most of her time doing high kicks and eating falafel. After a stint as a closed caption writer, she served as the Features Editor at Broadway.com, where she somehow managed to interview her celebrity crushes Paul Rudd, Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal without fainting or peeing her pants. She's an editorial director for the digital media company PureWow, where she sits in an extremely tall building and eats snacks. SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE is her first novel.
Title: Someday, Somewhere
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Author: Lindsay Champion
Publisher: KCP Loft
Publication: April 3rd 2018
Cover Rating: 5/5
Reading format: Provided ARC
Goodreads | Amazon
Someday, Somewhere, a debut novel, by Lindsay Champion is the story of Ben and Dom. This book contains a lot of tropes and things most people, including me, don't like in a contemporary story. Examples being; lying, insta-love and building a relationship based off of almost nothing. But somehow this author makes it work and I found myself really into the story.
Dom is a junior at a school in Jersey. Her class goes on a trip to Carnegie Hall in New York City and there, she sees this stunning guy that she instantly falls for. Love at first sight? Yes. Love at first string? Also, yes. Dom falls for this guy because of his looks and his amazing ability to play the violin. Now that Dom has seen her soulmate, she has to figure out how to meet him and see where things could go. But that will be kind of hard when it costs nearly $20 to go back and forth to NYC every day and her and her mother can barely make ends meet.
Ben has a very obsessive personality which tends to become unhealthy. Normally his obsession only gravitates towards his violin playing but when he meets Dom, he can't stop thinking about her. The book is told from both characters POV's and while I really loved both characters I think I enjoyed Ben's side a little bit more. I always end up liking the troubled character the best. I also really liked how the book felt like a piece of Ben's work. Everything was paced well then it started speeding up the closer we got to the finish.
The authors writing in this book just draws you in. Even if you hate insta-love or dislike books about music, this book will win you over. But this book is about so much more than those things. There is a pretty prominent mental illness subject. There is a lot of lying. This book pretty much is meant, to me at least, to teach a lesson. Each person will form their own opinion and get their own lesson from this book but what this book has taught me is be careful who you fall in love with.
In the end, this was such a great book and had a lot of depth that I wasn't expecting. I was expecting this cutesy romance story but it had so much more to it. Lindsay Champion has one hell of a debut novel on her hands.
Overall, I gave the book 4.5/5 stars.
1) Have you always wanted to be an author?
I've always been equally obsessed with writing, theater and music - there's something so compelling about the way these works of art are created out of thin air. When I got into NYU's drama program, I took it as a sign that theater was what I was supposed to be doing, but after about two years of watching geniuses like Lady Gaga and Donald Glover do their thing (yep, they were both in my graduating class), I realized writing was a much better fit for me. So I submitted a short story to an advanced fiction class, was accepted, and have been writing ever since.
2) If you had to pitch Someday, Somewhere to a potential buyer at a bookstore and the buyer didn't know you were the author, what would you say?
Psst. Hey, you. Yes, you, holding All the Bright Places, When We Collided and The Sun Is Also a Star. If you're into music and love stories and New York City, you should probably pick up Someday, Somewhere, too.
3) Where did the inspiration for Someday, Somewhere come from?
Child prodigies have always fascinated me. Where does their incredible talent and skill come from, and what happens to it when they get older? So the book started with the character of Ben, a violin prodigy who is grappling with the darker sides of his gift. I listened to a lot of classical music while researching and writing, and when I stumbled on Beethoven's Kreutzer sonata, I realized it captured so much of the energy of Ben's story. As I began to structure the story around the sonata (three movements, two alternating instruments), the puzzle pieces started fitting together.
4) If you could only eat 1 food for the rest of your life what would you pick and why?
Pizza. Hands down, no contest.
5) Are you currently working on any new books?
Yes! I can't reveal much about it yet, but I love writing about love and New York City, so it's pretty safe to say my next book will be full of more of that stuff.
QUOTED: "The story uses musical terminology throughout, and like a great piece of music, it flows smoothly."
"young adult readers who like romantic stories."
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Print Marked Items
Champion, Lindsay. Someday,
Somewhere
Elizabeth Nebeker
Voice of Youth Advocates.
41.1 (Apr. 2018): p54.
COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
3Q * 3P * S
Champion, Lindsay. Someday, Somewhere. Kids Can Press, April 2018. 280p. $18.99. 978-1-77138-931-0.
Someday, Somewhere is a musical story about love, hope, and dreams. Dominique (Dom), a seventeenyear-old
high school student from Trenton, and her best friend, Chris, nicknamed Cass, travel with their
school to Carnegie Hall to watch the Brighton Conservatory Concert. There, Ben, who plays the violin,
mesmerizes Dom. During their first chance encounter, she lies and tells him that she is dance student at
NYU. In reality, Dom and her mother struggle to make ends meet. Ben is a wealthy violin prodigy who gets
lost in his music and tries to hide his manic tendencies. There is an instant connection between them, and
they quickly fall in love. Ben shares musical experiences around New York with Dom. With both of them
hiding their challenges, they realize that in order to follow their dreams, they need to let each other go. The
reader is left wondering if someday the two characters will meet again.
Dom and Ben are easily relatable, although their immediate connection seems too instant. Readers see Dom
struggle when it comes to money and feel the building of Bens manic episode. Some of the minor
characters, such as Dom's ex-boyfriend Anton, and some of Ben's backstory need more development. The
story uses musical terminology throughout, and like a great piece of music, it flows smoothly, and during
Ben's manic episodes, it intensifies. Young adult readers who like romantic stories of first love will enjoy
this book.--Elizabeth Nebeker.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Nebeker, Elizabeth. "Champion, Lindsay. Someday, Somewhere." Voice of Youth Advocates, Apr. 2018, p.
54. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536746130/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c71dfb00. Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536746130
QUOTED: "The story unfolds at a satisfying clip, surprising readers who expect a formulaic ending."
"Romance—and a lot more besides."
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Champion, Lindsay: SOMEDAY,
SOMEWHERE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Mar. 15, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Champion, Lindsay SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE KCP Loft/Kids Can (Young Adult Fiction) $17.99 4, 3
ISBN: 978-1-77138-931-0
A meet-cute encounter opens this novel that tackles mental health, inequality, parental failings, and young
love.
Dominique lives in poverty with her white mother who owns a laundromat in Trenton, New Jersey; she
barely knows her Ecuadorian father. Dom dreams of becoming a dancer, but financial difficulties force her
to quit dance classes. Her African-American best friend is a fellow classic film buff who is questioning his
sexuality and shares her dream of making it big in New York City. By contrast, Ben, a wealthy, white,
Jewish violin virtuoso at an elite Manhattan conservatory, seemingly has it made--although he clearly
struggles with mental health issues that his parents refuse to acknowledge. When the two fall for one
another, Ben sees Dom as his savior and emotional anchor. Dom, on the other hand, initially lies about
herself out of fear that the reality won't be good enough for Ben. Tiresomely, the size and unruliness of
Dom's curly hair is emphasized and her urban vibe feels exoticized. The descriptions of her neighborhood
emphasize crime over community bonds, and success is framed as getting away. However, Dom's
touchingly close relationship with her mother is a bright spot. The story unfolds at a satisfying clip,
surprising readers who expect a formulaic ending.
Romance--and a lot more besides. (Fiction. 12-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Champion, Lindsay: SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530650585/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7aca5102.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530650585
QUOTED: "Readers will get lost in the musical romance Champion has created and be inspired to follow their ... dreams."
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Someday, Somewhere
Amanda Shepard
Booklist.
114.13 (Mar. 1, 2018): p51+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Someday, Somewhere. By Lindsay Champion. Apr. 2018. 280p. Kids Can/KCP Loft, $17.99
(9781771389310); paper, $10.99 (9781525300424). Gr. 9-12.
Dom and her best friend, Cass, have dreamed of moving out of their small New Jersey town and making it
big in New York. When their school gets the chance to go to Carnegie Hall, Dom is excited to get lost in the
music. But she didn't expect to fall for the concert's featured player, Ben. Ben inspires Dom by immersing
her in the musical world of New York, and in return, Dom helps to calm Ben's anxiety. As their love grows
deeper, the secrets they're keeping from each other threaten to wedge them apart. Champion's debut is
infused with music, from the setting to the plot to the structure of the novel itself. Champion captures a
unique voice for each of the characters; Ben's is fast-paced and anxious, reflecting his mania, while Dom's
chapters reflect her desperation to pull her and her mom out of the cycle of poverty they are trapped in.
Readers will get lost in the musical romance Champion has created and be inspired to follow their own
dreams.--Amanda Shepard
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Shepard, Amanda. "Someday, Somewhere." Booklist, 1 Mar. 2018, p. 51+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532250953/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=bab3c2d2.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532250953
QUOTED: "Champion, in her debut novel, effectively balances a whirlwind romance with
sobering realities."
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Someday, Somewhere
Publishers Weekly.
265.9 (Feb. 26, 2018): p94.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Someday, Somewhere
Lindsay Champion. KCP Loft, $17.99 (280p) ISBN 978-1-77138-931-0
In this New York story with clear allusions to West Side Story, Ben, a violin prodigy studying at a music
conservatory, and Dominique, a young woman fascinated by his talent, fall for each other hard and fast.
After Dominique sees Ben play at Carnegie Hall during a class trip, she conspires with her best friend, Cass,
to find a way to meet him. When her plan works, she tells him that she's an NYU student, though she's still
in high school. Ben is smitten and puts up flyers around the city looking for her (because they hadn't
exchanged numbers). Champion alternates between Ben and Dominique's perspectives, emphasizing the
different city lives they lead. Ben's narrative unfolds in the high-stakes world of conservatory music;
Dominique, meanwhile, lives in Trenton, N.J., where she helps her family make ends meet by working in
her mother's laundromat. Champion, in her debut novel, effectively balances a whirlwind romance with
sobering realities: it's not Dominique's dishonesty that derails the couple's happiness, but Ben's mental
illness, which is sensitively unveiled over the course of the novel. Ages 14--up. Agent: Sarah Davies,
Greenhouse Literary Agency. (Apr.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Someday, Somewhere." Publishers Weekly, 26 Feb. 2018, p. 94. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530637532/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a17f45c3.
Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530637532
QUOTED: "This story about first love will engage readers with the lyrical voices of the characters."
"Teens will root for Dom and Ben."
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CHAMPION, Lindsay. Someday,
Somewhere
Cathleen Ash
School Library Journal.
64.1 (Jan. 2018): p85.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No
redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
CHAMPION, Lindsay. Someday, Somewhere. 280p. KCP Loft. Apr. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN
9781771389310.
Gr 9 Up--This story about first love will engage readers with the lyrical voices of the characters. Ben (an
uber-violinist in New York City) and Dom (who is helping her mom in her failing laundry shop in Trenton,
NJ and living on rice and beans) are in such separate worlds they should never meet. But a school field trip
to Carnegie Hall places Dom in the balcony at the back of the hall while Ben is front and near-center,
playing the most awesome violin he has ever played. The audience, the conductor, and Dom are floored and
stand for the ovation. The pacing throughout is fast and furious. The author has created a story told through
expertly crafted dialogue and monologue. The composition mimics music with arpeggios and crescendos as
Dom seeks out the boy she saw on her school field trip. Ben, trying to find a mystical girl he saw, posts
flyers around his school, New York City, and on Instagram. "Have you seen this girl? ... Wild, curly hair ... a
voice like liquid gold ... skin like a shot of espresso." Teens will root for Dom and Ben and won't want to
leave these characters. VERDICT Add this music-themed YA to shelves needing more romance.--Cathleen
Ash, Manor High School, TX
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Ash, Cathleen. "CHAMPION, Lindsay. Someday, Somewhere." School Library Journal, Jan. 2018, p. 85.
General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A521876225/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=df1548a8. Accessed 24 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A521876225
QUOTED: "Beginning with simple tropes, the narrative slowly weaves a complex world of thought and emotion and becomes richer as the story unfolds. ... Champion’s novel serves as a good marker for what a contemporary teen love story should be: entertaining and focused on a broader human betterment, without skipping over the trials of the modern world."
SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE
by Lindsay Champion
KCP Loft, 270 pages
reviewed by Elaina Whitesell
Dominique, or Dom, seems to have nothing. She lives in Trenton, New Jersey with her single mother and helps run their Laundromat. When Dom and her best friend Cass embark on a field trip to New York City to see the students of the Brighton Conservatory perform at Carnegie Hall, Dom sees Ben for the first time.
Ben, a precocious violin virtuoso with money and a life in New York City, seems to have everything. Attracted to his music and lifestyle, Dom tracks Ben down and, with borrowed and stolen money, she begins leading a double life, travelling to NYC weekly to meet and subsequently date him.
Lindsay Champion’s debut novel Someday, Somewhere begins as any tragic love story, with star-crossed lovers from different socio-economic backgrounds, educations, passions, and family structures. But it becomes a more complex story about how relationships can lead people to live more fulfilling lives and accept nothing less than what they deserve.
A love for jazz is the foundation of Dom and Ben’s friendship and romance. But the Dom that Ben falls in love with is posing as a student of dance at NYU and there are ominous mentions of Ben’s past struggle with mental health. When the inevitable moment of truth occurs, their relationship survives, however, they both come to realize the pressures of their lives have quelled their true passions.
When Ben manically pressures Dom to break into the upper rooms of Carnegie Hall, Dom’s less realistic dreams become tainted and she is able to draw the distinction between concrete, attainable dreams and pure fantasy. In this moment, a long-term relationship with Ben becomes fantastical. Sometimes loving someone means allowing him or her to seek their own happiness on their own terms.
Lindsay Champion reminds readers that just because things seem unhappy does not mean they’re all bad, and just because things seem perfect does not mean there isn’t room for growth. Not all drama has to be damaging. The process of becoming an adult means sacrifice and real, healthy love.
Lindsay Champion
Although Someday, Somewhere presents itself as a teen love story, it becomes a story of self-love, transformation, and acceptance. Beginning with simple tropes, the narrative slowly weaves a complex world of thought and emotion and becomes richer as the story unfolds, weaving a tapestry of heavy topics and ego establishment. The novel’s crescendo displays an intricacy of voice when it becomes apparent that their relationship is the catalyst Dom and Ben desperately needed to remind one another of their individual worth and have some autonomy over their own lives.
In this way, Champion’s novel serves as a good marker for what a contemporary teen love story should be: entertaining and focused on a broader human betterment, without skipping over the trials of the modern world. The reader accompanies Ben and Dominique on the path to adulthood, which is neither colorless, nor easy. Champion shows the reader that the process of maturing can take another person to remind us where and who we are in order to choose the path to personal happiness.
Elaina Whitesell received her bachelor of arts from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. She currently occupies a position as poetry editor for Cleaver Magazine. Her work appears in The RavensPerch and New Limestone Review.
QUOTED: "Someday, Somewhere by Lindsay Champion was an absolute excellent and heart shredding book. ... It balanced emotion and complex characters and had such tight pacing. ... The details made the settings leap off the page. And every character felt real and complex, even if they weren’t mentioned very often."
Review: Someday Somewhere by Lindsay Champion
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SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE by Lindsay Champion was an absolute excellent and heart shredding book. All I knew going in was it’s about music, and being a musician who writes about music and also spent my entire teenagerdom listening to Beethoven on repeat…oh hello there book. You are mine. It absolutely didn’t disappoint and I was so teary at the end. It balanced emotion and complex characters and had such tight pacing that I couldn’t stop reading. I could feel myself speeding up with the book, like a classical piece just going faster and faster, until the string snaps at the end.
The story follows two teens, Ben and Dominique, who meet at a Carnegie Hall concert and a spark is lit. They both have their passions, music and dancing respectively, but connecting proves difficult as they go their separate ways without knowing even each other’s names. But finally they find each other again and Dom spins some impressive lies, thinking famous-music-prodigy-Ben won’t like her if he knows she’s super poor and works at her mum’s laundromat. And Ben’s obsessive need to conquer a Beethoven piece is breaking him into pieces, as much as he denies it. Their lives tangle and splinter as secrets and obsessions collide.
It’s about music and mental illness and wanting more. I think the music aspect was done nicely and felt authentic enough even though the author wasn’t a musician. I loved the parts where Ben was so into his music that nothing else mattered, because I really felt THERE with him. Even though I also ached for how unhealthy his obsession was and wanting someone to help him.
It’s dual narrated by Ben and Dominique. Ben is a rich musical prodigy and Dom is super poor and watching her mum struggle to run a laundromat and has had to give up her dream of being a dancer due to money. (She’s also half Ecuadorian.) Dom and Ben meet at a concert and then — SPARKS. Their get-together-story was super cute and I loved how they had to find each other with no information. It wasn’t instalove at all, but insta-connection, and it was perfectly done. They were also both equally winning, although Ben was a bit conceited (but there are reasons for that) and I rooted for Dom to have a better life and for Ben and her to work out.
I also loved the writing! It had a lot of cute and fun dialogue, some banter, some excellent side-characters (Cass was great and I hope he has a wonderful life too!) and how real it all felt. The details made the settings leap off the page. And every character felt real and complex, even if they weren’t mentioned very often.
Honestly SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE is amazing and I totally loved the combination of music and #meetcutes and two teens who just want more from their life. I’m just sitting here with heart eyes. It’s definitely the kind of story that is quick to read but stays with you long after you finish the last page.
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Cait Drews
Cait Drews is writer, book blogger, and reader extraordinaire. She's been blogging for 5 years, reads 200 books a year, and has written over fourteen YA novels. She is usually found hugging her bookshelves and she often eats full books before breakfast. View all posts by Cait Drews