SHORT REVIEW
In this book, Claudia comes back from summer vacation and can’t find her best friend Monday. Nobody has seen her since summer but the general consensus seems to be that there’s nothing to worry about; she’s somewhere.
Claudia doesn’t share their flippancy. Monday doesn’t show up at school. Her home telephone line is disconnected. Monday’s mother tells a different story every time Claudia asks where her friend is. Things aren’t adding up. The story follows Claudia playing detective trying to find her friend while also navigating school and the challenges that come with it.
The first Tiffany Jackson book I read was ‘Grown’ and it left me with a lot of questions so I was hesitant to pick this up…but I was pleasantly surprised. So much so that it had me reconsidering whether I understood the first book properly or if I need to revisit. Same applies to this book, the twist was unexpected (as it should be) and I wondered if there were signs and I missed them, I probably did. This warrants a reread sometime in the future.
If you’re looking for a quick read, this YA fiction, mystery with a dash of thriller might be the one for you.
ROLE OF COMMUNITY
spoilers from here
It wasn’t shocking to me that Monday was dead, (that’s not the twist, I’ll leave some mystery lol) it was how long she’d been dead - don’t even get me started on how she died.
Even weeks later I still can’t understand how she hadn’t been found for so long and even that was accidental. No one was concerned, except dear Claudia of course. The school didn’t care and neighbours couldn’t be bothered.
It’s frustrating because it’s not just fiction, it’s the reality we live in today. What happened to community? Caring for your neighbour? Checking in?
The neighbours claimed they were too busy with their lives, that you can’t follow up on people’s lives, you can’t teach parents how to raise their children etc etc.
We’ve collectively taken a backseat. In a world where trying to show up for people is seen as nosiness or ill will, it’s easier to turn a blind eye and mind your business. Sometimes it’s easier to not blur the lines; go to work do your job and go home, keep things polite with your roommate and so on…but how healthy is that? Don’t you sometimes wish someone would reach out even if it’s just the perfunctory inquiry of well being. Watching someone suffer, feeling sympathy but not extending help isn’t okay, no matter what society says. It shouldn’t be normal.
Bring back community. Normalise reaching out first - yes your ego will survive. Let’s go back to raising children as a village. Be there for each other. Yes it might be inconvenient, it might even be unwelcome and unreciprocated but you never know…you just might save a life.
