Monday's Not Coming
Written by Tiffany D. Jackson
Narrated by Imani Parks
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
""Jackson’s characters and their heart-wrenching story linger long after the final page, urging readers to advocate for those who are disenfranchised and forgotten by society and the system."" (Publishers Weekly, ""An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List"")
From the critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, comes a gripping novel about the mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.
Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.
When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.
As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?
Tiffany D. Jackson
Tiffany D. Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of Allegedly, Monday's Not Coming, Let Me Hear a Rhyme, Grown, White Smoke, The Weight of Blood, and coauthor of Blackout and Whiteout. A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book and Coretta Scott King–John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, she received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University, earned her master of arts in media studies from the New School, and has over a decade of TV and film experience. The Brooklyn native still resides in the borough she loves. You can visit her at www.writeinbk.com.
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Reviews for Monday's Not Coming
1,154 ratings82 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was such an amazing book. I couldn’t stop listening to it because I had to know what happened! It also made me cry ?
3 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a story of a girl who is looking for her missing friend. Claudia and Monday have been best friends since first grade but, when Claudia returns from a summer spent with her Grandmamma in Georgia, Monday is gone. They had big plans for this eighth grade year and Claudia can't imagine spending it without her best friend.The main problem is that no one else thinks that Monday's disappearance is a problem. Claudia's mother says maybe she's sick. The school says she never enrolled. And even Claudia's favorite English teacher isn't able to get any answers when she questions the school or social services. Claudia keeps trying to call but the number is out of service. Despite the fact that her mother doesn't want her to go to Claudia's neighborhood which is the most dangerous in Washington, DC, Claudia doesn't find out anything when she talks to Monday's mother. Monday's older sister keeps giving her conflicting stories, i.e. that she's home sick, that she is living with her father, that she is living with an aunt. Claudia really needs her friend at school. She is dyslexic but has been able to cover it up because Monday has been doing her writing for her and reading to her. Despite her learning disability, which she will do anything to hide, she is a talented dancer who has been moved up to a higher age level at her dancing school and talented as an artist which mainly shows up in the creative way she does nails.The story is pretty straightforward and doesn't have a happy ending but the writing style adds depth to the story by shifting around in time with each chapter. Here are the first four chapter titles so that you can see what I mean: September, The Before, The After, One Year Before the Before. I was right there with Claudia feeling her frustration as she couldn't get anyone to care as much about Monday's disappearance as she did. The story was horrifying, heart-breaking, and the kind of story that will haunt my thoughts for a long time.
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book was one of the most attention grabbing books I have read in a long time. Although at first it was a little confusing with the chapters, before the before, after the before. I wasn’t expecting the end to be what the end was. It felt so real because it can and has happened to people or communities in real life. Monday is not coming is definitely a must read, and makes me think about how the trauma of the past can affect the future
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Freaking brilliant. I haven’t cried so much for so long in my life! I can’t say anymore otherwise I’ll start crying again. That story was heart wrenching.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mind blowing story. I felt like I was right there with Claudia, felt her pain and anguish. What an emotional tale could be ripped right out of the headlines. Thank you for telling this story!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book but left a lot of loose ends that I want to know the answers to.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I want to fight just about every adult in this book. I’m terrified that Monday could be any young person I know.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed this due to it being a YA but there’s so many parts where even though I already knew how it would end, I just kept wanting to know more and more. The switches between time periods was actually done well with the inclusion of the mini chapters for Claudia’s thoughts. Important message for society on the most marginalised lives and the neglect from the system that costs the lives of many innocent people, and destroys the ones around them. Will probably think about this book for a while.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a Great read I didn't know it was a young adult book,I picked it because of the title. So I was reading it from a mother's perspective and I could relate to Claudia's mother. It was so sad at some points of the book, I can sympathize with her losing her best friend it could be devastating especially for her because she was an only child.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Another great one from Tiffany D. Jackson. Another crazy plot twist. The details of what happened to Monday were disturbing and had me tossing and turning through the night BUT it was too hard to stop listening. Love that she tied all loose ends. Will read/listen to anything by Tiffany.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I was in such suspense the whole time. I’ve never cried over a book before.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was written well. The story line kept me engaged and thirsty for the next page.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5"Painful but necessary"
It took me four months to read this book. It's so painful to read about a Black children being overlooked, abused, under-served, and forgotten. The amount of people who refused to care, to look, to protect Monday and August is disgusting and demoralizing. I already knew this happened in theory but reading an individual account isn't the same as abstract statistics. I'm glad this book exists because statistics are escapable. Stories stick.
The plot twist is out of this world and you will NOT see it coming. The one reason I gave it a 4.50 and not a straight 5.0 is that the "Before" and "After" separation was confusing (which maybe was the point) but I never figured out exactly what the separation was (but that might be explained by the plot twist so it's hard to retroactively assess it).
The characters in this book are amazing. Tiffany Jackson does a great job with them-- even the ones you hate, hate, HATE are perfect. Claudia and Monday are perfect in their friendship, Claudia's parents are perfect in their guardianship, Marcus is THE BEST fullstop. Everyone is just super real and they all play their part in the story, no matter how frustrating or admirable we think they are. Even though it's a plot-driven book and you don't see the last threads coming together until the very end, it's the characters' motivations that resolve the narrative.
The last thing I'll say (because it's still just difficult to think about and process) is that the treatment of trauma is the most understated and ah-mazing I've seen in ya contemporary fiction. Claudia's PTSD is legitimately hard to see at first and once we do see it, it's shattering. Truly, you never know how trauma will show itself but a solid support system is everything and the fact that Claudia has it is one of the things I'm most grateful for in the book.
Monday's Not Coming is one of the hardest books I've ever read and I'll probably never be able to read it again. But you should read it at least once.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beautifully written. This text dealt with real issues teens experience. The culture is so intertwined into the story from the lingo to popular local music. I rearely feel my heart drop when I read novels. This one hurt.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was a very engaging story it kept me on edge. You kind of a knew what happened but just had to keep reading to find out how it happened. I would have never guessed at the way it turned out and what was going on the whole time.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5i liked the mind twist at the end. very good read. claudia was a very good loyal friend
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book crushed me to my core! It is beautifully written, but such a heartbreaking story. Worth the read
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Could not stop listening. Gripping. Heartbreaking story told beautifully. 10/10.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's an awesome story with a great perspective. I loved it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gripping! Some real twists! Love the style of book! Easy listen.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great read, It was very suspenseful. I really enjoyed the twist at the end. I didn't expect it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So far anything I’ve read by her I adore. Allegedly is my favorite. This took some extra effort to follow the before and after, although I liked it as a component of the story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic. Absolutely beautiful. I cried so much at the end even though I knew what was coming. The mental struggles she faced of not knowing was compelling and reading about how your mind can convince you to ignore or explain away what seems to be the obvious was very well done.
My only critique would be the way they laid out the timeline - the “before”, “after”, and “x amount of time before the before”, had me pretty confused. I know that was the intention, but I feel like it needed just a bit more structure to it. I think it needed to use specific events as reference to “before” and “after” instead of a prolonged time period. Again, I know it was intentional and the author didn’t want to give specific dates or anything, but even after reading it all, I still don’t exactly understand what the words were referencing to. Before what? And after what? - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The time jumps were a bit confusing but the story was so enthralling that I literally could not stop listening.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow, what a fantastic heartwarming read. Give it a try
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I wanted to like it so much more. The writing was elementary and the plot was confusing by the end. No need for the memory loss.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Though a little hard to follow on audio with the different timelines, this was so good! I had a feeling I knew what happened, but like Claudia, didn't want to believe it. The ride was wild and a good time!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was so well read and even though you knew what basically what was going on. You just wanted it to turn out different. Wonderful writing.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great read! Held one to every word. Again great read!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was better than Grown and White Smoke. A very interesting read. Pretty early on at the beginning of the book its obvious what is happening and you wander why Claudia couldn't see what was happening but you have to remind yourself she is a sheltered, overly in herself person, born and raised in a very loving family. At that age its assumed every other family is living in a similar situation as she is. Having that understanding we are more able to appreciate Claudia's recalling of Monday's circumstances/incidents and developments.