“I know what you’re thinking. How can a whole person, a kid, disappear and no one say a word? Like if the sun just up and left one day, you’d think someone would sound an alarm, right? But Ma used to say, not everyone circles the same sun. I never knew what she meant by that until Monday went missing” (Jackson 2018, p.1).
I picked up this book for a book club I’m attending at work, and I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. I was aware of Tiffany Jackson before, and had even heard her speak at a YA literature conference a few years ago, so I was very interested in reading some of her work. Unfortunately, my easily distracted brain never got around to it until I joined this book club, so I’m very glad it made me take the time to read this book. Monday’s Not Coming is an incredibly powerful, suspenseful, and heart-breaking read, and it really showed me the depth of Tiffany Jackson’s writing ability.
Monday’s Not Coming follows a young black teen named Claudia, whose best friend Monday has just gone missing. Aside from Claudia, however, nobody seems to notice – or care – about her disappearance. Claudia has never been great at making friends, and the Monday-shaped hole in her life starts to make her realize just how much she relied on her only friend for love and support. Without Monday, Claudia’s grades begin to fall, she begins to lose interest in things she loved before, and she shuts herself off from the world in an attempt to protect herself from judgment and bullying. While this is happening, Claudia continues to search desperately for her friend, trying to piece together the puzzle that led to her disappearance.
There are so many important themes and discussions in this novel that it’s hard to pick just one to talk about. According to Tiffany Jackson herself, however, I think the most important thing this book does is raise awareness for missing children, specifically missing children of color. As someone who watches a lot of true crime, I’ve seen firsthand how white children always seem to get more attention in the media than black and indigenous children.
I, much like Jackson, believe that all missing children deserve a spotlight, and I wish all of them got the justice and love they deserve. The fact that nobody but Claudia seems willing to do anything to find her friend illustrates that sometimes, even well meaning adults let abuse go unnoticed, leading to tragic consequences. In an interview, Jackson has stated that Monday’s story was based on two very real stories of missing children, and I find it commendable that she’s using her art to bring awareness to the harsh reality of child abuse.
Another excellent topic this book tackles is the importance of friendship, while also highlighting how crucially important it is to have a support network in times of emotional trauma. Monday was an excellent friend to Claudia, but Claudia made the mistake of never branching out, always afraid to lose her one and only friend. When Monday disappears, Claudia is forced to leave her comfort zone in an effort to re-enter society, making friends through Michael and the girls in her dance class.
When it is revealed in the end that Claudia has been having spells of memory loss (forgetting that her friend is dead), it illustrates how important that new network is in bringing her back to herself and providing closure and healing. I have to admit I was shocked at the twist ending, though in hindsight Jackson had left many crumbs to indicate that Claudia already had an awareness of what was going on. I’m not sure if there is a name for Claudia’s condition in the book, but it was refreshing to see a raw portrayal of PTSD and extreme grief, as it really can cause us to suppress painful or unpleasant memories. In the end, Claudia and her family seek group therapy, sending the message that talking to a professional can really help one process his or her trauma in a healthy way.
Another thing that made this book interesting was the way in which it was written. The story flips between “Before the Before,” “Before,” “After,” and then simply by months, making the reader feel just as disjointed as Claudia does without her best friend by her side. I absolutely loved how Tiffany Jackson played with continuity here, as it added a lot of suspense and intrigue as I tried to piece together the timeline of Monday’s disappearance. It also means that we get to know who Monday is as a character while Claudia is frantically searching for her, making it all the more heart-breaking when we learn her fate at the end of the book.
Some of the other themes I noticed were political in nature, such as the fight to save Monday’s neighborhood from getting bulldozed and placed with high-end condos and a shopping district. This is another unfortunate reminder of the reality for many people, who are forced into homelessness simply because they are living in a coveted area and can’t afford to move away.
It’s very clear throughout the novel that Monday’s home is located in what everyone considers to be a dangerous area, making it even more likely for her and her siblings to fall through the cracks when it comes to the authorities and CPS. Because of where Monday lives, her plight is dismissed by many adults because that’s simply how her neighborhood is. Nobody is there to offer help or compassion, only scorn and judgment.
I also noticed the sheer amount of bullying that Monday and Claudia face in school, and how a lot of it is fueled by social media. When discussing this book in my book club, many of the adults reading the book were grateful that we’d never had to go through high school in the height of social media. With apps like Snapchat and TikTok, something innocent (like the photo of Claudia and Monday in the bathroom) could result in years of torment, leading many teens into depression and suicide. Without Monday at her side, Claudia is forced to face the full weight of this negative attention, making it hard for her to even attend school after she learns of her friend’s death.
Thankfully, however, Claudia is able to find healthy outlets for her trauma, through dance lessons and the encouragement she receives from the tutors helping her with her dyslexia. She goes from believing she is stupid and worthless without her friend’s help to having confidence in her abilities, and I loved seeing her grow as a person throughout the story.
Having been a teen myself, I can relate to Claudia’s fear of not being smart, pretty, or popular enough for her peers, and her fear of being herself for fear of what others will think. We forget as adults just how insurmountable certain obstacles feel at that age, and I’m glad that I (like Claudia) had loving and supportive adults in my life as a teen to make it through high school relatively unscathed.
There are many, many more things I could discuss in this review, from the slut shaming April faces (which was also heartbreaking to me) to the wholesome romance between Michael and Claudia. If this review goes any longer, however, I don’t think I’ll ever stop talking about how powerful this book is. I’d been looking forward to reading some of Tiffany Jackson’s work, and now that I have I am certainly not disappointed. I’m going to have to sit down and discipline myself to read some of her other work, as I know it will be just as heart breaking, powerful, and intellectually stimulating as this novel was.
I highly recommend this book to any teen or adult who enjoys realistic fiction with a powerful message, as I truly believe there is a lesson in this book for everyone. Even if all you take away from it is that missing children of every race and creed deserve to have their stories told, I’d say that’s a solid reason to pick up this book. I look forward to reading more of Tiffany Jackson’s books in the future, and hope she continues to succeed in sharing these deeply important stories with audiences everywhere.
Reference:
Jackson, T. (2018). Monday’s Not Coming. New York: HarperCollins.
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