Warning: This post contains vulgar language and sexually explicit material that is not appropriate for children.
The book Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson is currently available at Grand Haven High School library. This book has been reviewed by GHAPS employees and they have determined it is appropriate for the school library.
Monday is the main character’s best friend who disappears over summer break. Claudia searches for her friend for three-quarters of the book but flashes back to memories of her friend. The book ends with the discovery that her best friend and brother have been murdered by their mother and stuffed into a freezer.
First the language throughout this book is quite fowl and the characters use very poor grammar. Let me give you some examples.
p.11 - dyke bitch
p. 52 - as long as she don’t fuck up at recital
p. 54 - noticing the way my swiveling hips made my ass shake
p. 132 - she a ‘ho, just like her sister, fucking every dude on the courts.
The book also contains subtle themes that divide people, break down society and encourage bad behavior. For example, because the main character doesn’t want to speak in front of the congregation, her friend encourages her to drop out of church. Their favorite teacher is a lesbian and they hate the strict, smart, white teacher. In fact, all the white characters are bad. They sneak out of the house, cheat on their homework, and routinely disobey parents. They have physical fights in school, they drink at parties, give blow jobs and have sex. Here are some examples:
p.247 - “shit,” Keith muttered, pulling up his pants and jumping off April.
p. 251 - that dude she fucked
p. 287 - We all know you know how to swallow
p. 299 - she sucked my dick
It turns out Monday was severely abused and this was also detailed in the last quarter of the book.
p.377 - I hoped she’d be in the trunk of a car chopped up and buried… not in a freezer.
p.390 - That funeral was fucking bogus
p.390 - Stupid freezer was so full with August (her brother), wouldn’t close right since Monday was so tall
p.410 - It took four days to thaw her out… like a fucking turkey
Although this book may help a child identify and seek help for an abused friend, and may comfort a child knowing there are other dyslexic children, it is more likely to scare and traumatize innocent children. Monday witnessed her mother kill her younger brother. She also witnessed her sister being directed to stuff him into a freezer. Nine months later when Monday is about to seek help her mother realizes and murders her. Her older sister stuffs Monday in the freezer and complains the task is difficult because Monday is so tall.
This book offers no options for the abused child to improve her situation. It offers no hope for the abused child. It contains violence, inappropriate sexual content, breaks down society, is disturbing, divisive and inappropriate for the school library.
Grand Haven High School and Central High School librarian Dana Rider, Lakeshore and White Pines librarian Sarah McElrath and Instructional Services Educational Director Mary Jane Evink also reviewed this book.
Monday’s Not Coming is a story of a 14 year old girl who’s best friend is missing and follows her journey to figure out what happened. This story touches on many topics that high school students might encounter in their lives. Her friend had a very tumultuous home life that students here deal with. Some of the other topics include bullying, Dyslexia, teen drinking, and domestic violence. This book touches on signs of domestic violence that should be looked out for and could help students in our building identify if friends or classmates could be dealing with a similar situation. It also shows that identifying these signs is very important because sometimes the system doesn’t always work and kids can fall through the cracks. Overall this book doesn’t glorify any untoward behaviors and is very ambiguous on the details of various situations.
Would you be happy if your child or grandchild brought home this book? If you are a GHAPS parent and have an issue with a lesson or book your child has been exposed to you can share it with us at jsn1984@protonmail.com – please provide as much information as possible such as school, grade, subject, title of book or lesson, and your issue with the book or lesson. Thank you.