Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

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Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson



                When Claudia returned home from spending the summer with her grandmamma the first person, she asked about was Monday. They usually exchanged letters over the summer, since neither has a cellphone, and Monday hadn’t responded to any of Claudia’s letter. But even now that she was back, Monday was nowhere to be found. Her number wasn’t working, and she wasn’t at school the first day, or the day after that. Weeks went by and no one had seen Monday. Monday’s mom claimed she was with her father while her sister claimed she was with an aunt. No one even bothered answering questions about August, Monday’s little brother. Claudia’s mother thought she may simple have moved like her family. Claudia’s father thought that maybe they two eighth graders were growing apart. But no one understood that Monday would have never left Claudia like that. And Claudia was left navigating the world without her best, and only friend. As the months went by the only one who would never stop looking was Claudia.
                I’ve read all three of Jackson’s books, enjoyed them all but this is just different. It’s a mystery and also coming of age story. Claudia seems like she’s drowning in world that she never learned to navigate without Monday. The concern and love Claudia has for Monday as well as the desperation she has in find her is the driving force for this novel. As we get deeper into the story, and the layers begin to pull away we learn that they both have secrets that they’ve been hiding from the people around them. And as time goes on and those secrets start to become known, Claudia has to not only deal with the consequences of those secrets, she has to learn how to exist in world without Monday.
                Jackson’s ability to develop extremely compelling, authentic characters is shown off in this book. Monday’s Not Coming is told in first person by Claudia who is an extremely loving and intuitive teenager. The way she describes the world around her and the people she interacts with, is really unique. There are moments when she uses colors to describe people and the descriptions were so poetic. I always felt in the moment with her and I was completely wrapped up in the search for Monday. And it wasn’t just because of the character development. This story had amazing world development as well as pacing, throughout the story. Jackson also dug deep into what it means to be judged unfairly because of where you come from and the ways in which poverty can affect how you’re viewed and advocated for or against. It explored sexuality as, what it means to explore being sexual at a young age and how people judge that as well. Abuse is also something discussed. None of this is taken lightly. Jackson explores all of these topics in a way that is both respectful of victims but extremely realistic.
                This is my favorite of Jackson’s books. I feel like it has the best writing and I love the way she chose to tell this story. After reading the book, I have a whole new understanding of why the book was written the way it was. I already know it’s a story I will revisit soon. I am highly recommending this book. I devoured it. Couldn’t put it down. I’m giving it 5 out of 5 stars.

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