Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson is a heartbreaking snapshot of children who fall through the cracks. Our Bookstagrammer friends Anna & Courtney return to the show to talk about friendship, family, and gentrification. (Transcript)

In today’s episode…

In Tiffany D Jackson’s newest novel, Monday’s Not Coming, Claudia is the only one who seems to care that her best friend Monday hasn’t shown up for school. She tries talking to her parents, her teachers, the cops, and even Monday’s own dysfunctional family. Can Claudia help solve the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance?

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Episode highlights…

Spoiler-free

*1:08 We discuss Tiffany D. Jackson’s debut novel, Allegedly

*4:41 Danielle & Courtney talk about the treatment of Claudia’s learning disability

*8:43 Their favorite teacher, Ms. Valenti

Things We Like a Latte

Danielle – Undertale Let’s Play by Game Grumps 

Amanda – Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Courtney – DC in the Spring & Courtney’s Go-Go Playlist  {Note: some explicit content}

Anna – Domics 

Spoiler-Informed

*16:43 This book made all of us cry

*20:10 The complex story of Monday’s sister, April

*24:16 The Mitchell Blair case, and the real life inspirations for this novel

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More ideas and resources for teachers and librarians…

So, there’s a lot to unpack with this novel.

First of all, as Courtney says in this episode, there are so many amazing aspects of D. C. culture to celebrate! One of those is Go-Go music. You can find Courtney’s Monday’s Not Coming Playlist on Spotify, and you’ll be able to share some of these tracks with students. You can also explore the History of Go-Go with students.

On the heavier end of things, this novel touches on ideas about gentrification. Gentrification is a huge, sticky topic because it seems like such an obvious, unstoppable change on the surface. If you want to help your students dig deeper, you can start with these two articles:

The Politics of the Urban Comeback: Gentrification and Culture in DC

DC’s Gentrifying Neighborhoods: A Careful Mix of Newcomers and Old-timers

Lastly, this novel was inspired by missing children, and particularly the Missing Girls of DC. This is a complex situation because missing children are a real problem, but social media blew the situation out of proportion a couple of years ago with some fake statistics. Still, this started an important conversation on race and the racial divide in the United States .

Get in touch with us on Instagram and Twitter at @yacafepodcast or email us at yacafepodcast@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Credits…

Hosts: Danielle Hall (who blogs at teachnouvelle.com)

          & Amanda Thrasher (a booklover extraordinaire)

Guests: Anna @hayinas7

& Courtney @coco_chasing_adventures

Producer: Leila Hobbs

Music: Matt McCammon

Thank you to HarperCollins, and Katherine Tegan Books for providing us with review copies of this novel.