Monday's Not Coming

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?

These book club questions are from the publisher, HarperCollins Publishers.

Book club questions for Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

What are some of the first signs that Claudia isn’t experiencing time in a linear fashion?

What is concerning about the community’s response to Monday’s disappearance?

Early in the novel, Claudia reflects that, “If Monday were a color, she’d be red. Crisp, striking, vivid, you couldn’t miss her—a bull’s-eye—in a room, a crackling flame” (p. 41). What feelings do you normally associate with the color red? How might this phrase serve as foreshadowing?

What inconsistencies exist in the description of Mrs. Charles’s character? What clues do readers have that she may not be as she appears?

What clues do readers have that Claudia’s home life is drastically different from Monday’s?

How does Monday’s disappearance impact Claudia? Reflect on the way Monday protects Claudia and nurtures her as the two navigate school and social situations—and the ways their relationship sometimes borders on codependency.

What are the initial emotional and psychological consequences for Claudia when Monday disappears?

When Mrs. Valente tells Claudia that she’s “ . . . very bright. [She] just . . . absorbs things differently than other students . . . and there ain’t nothing wrong with that” (p. 162), she offers her acceptance. What role does Mrs. Valente play in helping Claudia deal with shame and self-doubt?

How does Ma serve as a surrogate mother for Monday? What does this reveal for the reader about Monday’s relationship with her own mother?

As Claudia starts to develop a life of her own in the wake of Monday’s disappearance, she also begins to learn that she may not know Monday as well as she thought. What information is uncovered? What does this information reveal about Monday’s life, relationships, and character?

How is Monday both visible and invisible throughout the novel? What does this say about the state of Black girls and women in society?

Monday's Not Coming Book Club Questions PDF

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