Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book wrecked me in such a way that I’m a fan and want to read Tiffany D. Jackson’s other books. That could be my full review, but I’ll keep going. I wasn’t ready for the story I embarked on even though I should have been with Easter eggs, like the multiple references to Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews.

Monday Charles, a black teen, has gone missing and no one but her best friend Claudia seems to care. Not school officials, her siblings, or her own mother. As the school year progresses and still no Monday (who has a sister named April, Claudia becomes more and more agitated and disturbed by her absence. No way her best friend, her only friend, would leave her hanging to survive the school year, schoolwork and bullying by herself.

I freely admit that up until recently (sometime last year), I was a book snob when it came to fiction. I didn’t understand how and why grown adults read YA fiction, not with all the other titles out there to read. Let me tell you something. Now I know why. Writers like Tiffany D. Jackson and books like Monday’s Not Coming are freaking awesome. The storyline and characters are just as dramatic as adult fiction.  I can’t say that I see myself in any of the characters of Monday’s Not Coming, but that doesn’t matter. Other readers, teen or adult, can, do and will.

While reading Monday’s Not Coming, I can’t help but to think about how the whole world stops when a white girl or woman goes missing.  It plays on a loop in the news coverage on both a local and national level. Years later, whether solved or unsolved, there are Dateline and 20/20 specials. But let a Black girl go missing, it’s business as usual. It reminded me of the Atlanta Child Murders. Dozens of Black kids went missing (presumed dead) in the 70s and parents never received closure thanks to the unsolved cases. In present day, it’s only in Black publications do I see the staggering stats of new and current black girls and boys missing, but I never hear about it on the news. I’m pretty sure all the Amber alerts I’ve received on my phone have been for non-Black or non-brown children.

Monday’s Not Coming has a stunning red cover of a Black teen sporting high-top Chuck Taylors and braids. She looks like any regular teen from any neighborhood. Any regular teen that can go missing. Monday’s Not Coming was an awesome read and I look forward to reading Tiffany D. Jackson’s other works.

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