Margin Notes

Monday’s Not Coming is one of the most engaging YA mystery books I have read to date. I literally could not put this book down, despite promising myself that I would turn out the lights in “one more chapter”!

The novel opens with Claudia, an eighth-grade student who returns home to Washington after having spent the summer at her grandmother’s in Georgia. Upon seeing her mother, she immediately inquires about her best friend, Monday Charles, who has not returned any of Claudia’s posted letters. Claudia knows that something is terribly wrong and sets out to find her beloved friend despite all the mixed messages she receives. Her mother appears unalarmed and aloof. Her father chalks it up to friends growing apart. Mrs. Charles nearly assaults Claudia and threatens her to never come knocking again. Monday’s sister April says that Monday is at her father’s…no, her aunt’s…no, her father’s. The school seems to think that Monday is being home-schooled. Only Ms. Valente, the girls’ former grade seven English teacher, seems disturbed that no one has seen nor heard anything about Monday. As the story progresses, the author flips between chapters titled with the months of the year, “The Before,” “The After,” and “One Year Before the Before,” and the reader is privy to the intimate nature of Claudia and Monday’s relationship, Claudia’s panic and search for her other half, and the devastation of a mental breakdown.

While the novel initially paints a picture of true friendship and acceptance, it is later revealed that perhaps the girls’ relationship has a few skeletons in its closet—at least for Monday. The reader sees glimpses of the abuse Monday endures, the squalor in which she lives in the housing projects of Edward Borough, as well as some half-truths told to Claudia. On the other hand, in Monday’s absence, Claudia finds herself bitterly managing a newly diagnosed learning disability and navigating the harsh environment of middle school without her closest and only ally.

And, all the while, the question remains: “Where is Monday Charles?”

This novel will interest any student who loves a good mystery and who is interested in delving into social issues such as poverty, abuse, and community responsibility; as well as exploring mental health issues and those who are marginalized.

Joanne McDonald teaches grade 9 English and Canadian Geography 120 at Oromocto High School. Over the past couple of years, she has become passionate about getting great books into the hands of her students and has reconnected with her old creative writing self.