This month I selected a young adult novel that has been challenged in several states for sexual content, depictions of peer pressure, child abuse, and neglect deemed inappropriate for young adult readers.
The fictional storyline is loosely based on events that actually occurred in her community when the author was growing up.
Unfortunately, children do experience peer pressure, abuse and neglect and ignoring these problems only makes it easier for these horrors to continue happening.
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (winner of the 2019 Coretta Scott King Award -- New Talent/Author) is a thought-provoking novel written from a unique perspective. The story is told in flashbacks experienced by a girl in middle school named Claudia.
Claudia and Monday are best friends. They are about to enter 8th grade at a charter school in Washington D.C. They seem to have their whole lives planned out. The pair are inseparable except for summer breaks which Claudia always spends in the South at her grandmother’s house in the country. Claudia’s parents send her there for more than the fresh air. They both work and they don’t want Claudia unsupervised during the summer. The girls write letters because Claudia’s grandmother dislikes the internet.
When Monday stops writing Claudia over the summer break. Claudia is the only one concerned. When Monday doesn’t show up for school in the fall, only Claudia is worried. She’s admonished not to interfere in family business when she starts asking questions.
Woven into this mystery of where Monday could be are glimpses of life in a housing project and the gentrification of American cities with substantial populations of color. Claudia has trouble persuading her parents, classmates, school, and law enforcement that something is wrong.
We see contrasting family dynamics between Claudia’s and Monday’s families and how peer pressure affects middle school and high school students.
Despite child services having a record of problems in the home, why did they not follow up?
Why did the police ignore calls from a teacher about concerns over a child?
Tiffany D. Jackson shines a light on the plight of so many children who have been allowed to slip through the cracks unprotected and ignored.
Other Books by Tiffany D. Jackson:
Allegedly (2017)
Let Me Hear a Rhyme (2019)
Grown (2020)
White Smoke (2021)
Santa in the City (2021)
The Weight of Blood (2022)
His Hideous Heart: 13 of Edgar Allan Poe’s Most Unsettling Tales Reimagined (a 2019 anthology with other authors)
Blackout (a 2021 anthology with other authors))
Whiteout ( a 2022 anthology with other authors)
The Awakening of Malcolm X ( 2021 - part of a series written with coauthor, Ilyasah Shabazz)
Photo credits:
Image of Tiffany D. Jackson:
By Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84427261
Image of book Jacket:
Taken from Goodreads with no intent of copyright infringement