Monday's Not Coming

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In the “One Year Before the Before” chapters, the novel shows that a close friendship can be an extremely valuable source of support and safety. For instance, because of their close friendship, Monday and Claudia are able to effectively navigate a difficult bullying situation at school. Because they have each other to lean on, they usually find that it’s not even worth it to respond to their classmates’ taunts—they’ll never have to try to befriend them, anyway. Further, though Claudia doesn’t realize it until the end of the novel, the girls’ friendship offers Monday an important and necessary escape from the abuse and neglect she suffers at home. At Claudia’s house, Monday is able to see what a healthier relationship between two parents and between parents and children looks like; she’s able to eat full meals and have a clean, warm place to sleep; and perhaps most importantly, she’s temporarily safe from Mrs. Charles’s abuse. Michael, Claudia’s boyfriend in the “After” timeline, even suggests outright that Claudia saved Monday for years, simply by lessening the amount abuse that Monday could have otherwise suffered. Claudia, at 14-16 years old, is younger than the protagonists I'm used to in YA, but her narrative felt younger still. There were parts where I felt like I was inside the head of an 8 year old. It made it difficult to settle into the flow of the book. 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.

Claudia's obviously attentive parents are flabbergasted to discover that their daughter cannot read or write at 14 years old and consequently blame the school (they apparently never examined their daughter's school work or ever had her read anything to them); We've done this every couple of weeks in the county system this year," she said. "I read this, and I ask, 'Why did this just happen? What are these books?' ... This is crazy stuff." Another thing about this book is that we get lots of scenes that don't further the plot or story. We get scenes with her relationship on Monday. We get scenes of her being at school, her at the party, her at dance and her relationships with her mom, dad and Michael. I would have enjoyed it more if we had more scenes where she was digging into where Monday is and being like a detective in a way. To me, I think that would have made the book more compelling and this would have better executed the plot. Don't get me wrong this book has a great premise, but it could have been executed so much better. Instead of having most of the book be filler, you could shave that down a bit and add more of Claudia being a detective, looking at all the clues to figure out where her best friend went. Claudia goes to school as usual...no Monday. No one has seen or heard from her, but no one except for Claudia even seems to be concerned. Everyone brushes Claudia off. Claudia refuses to take no answer for an answer. She needs to see Monday or hear from her to know that she's okay because Monday wouldn't do this. Not even Monday's mother or sister April help.

I am appalled," she said. "I guess I assumed it was possible, which is why we prepare for something like this. I don't think as a librarian you ever expect it. You don't expect people to go against their own policies, for one thing. ... But access to information is such a universally, bipartisan concept. I just don't understand in what realm you decide limiting access to information is going to take you down a good path." Book challenges up nationwide Lolita," by Vladimir Nabokov, which is one of the few "classics" on the list, as it is widely considered among the top 100 novels written. It's the story of a middle-aged professor who is obsessed with a 12-year-old girl and engages in a pedophilic relationship with her. I got a call, and I was told that the books were coming off the shelves, whether I was willing to do it or not," she recalled. "And ... I did it. I felt like it was an 'Old Yeller' situation. I'm going to be the one to shoot the dog. ... It happened on my watch. Carmen Maria Machado’s memoir about being in an abusive queer relationship was permanently pulled from a Texas school district’s book clubs and classroom libraries in December 2021. Like many other LGBTQ+ stories, In the Dream House has been challenged for explicit content with one parent saying that having children read the book was akin to “child abuse.” Machado has been outspoken about the latent homophobia in these claims, writing in The New York Times that “those who seek to ban my book and others like it are trying to exploit fear… and distort it into something ugly, in an attempt to wish away queer experiences.” 7. All Boys Aren’t Blue

Bates said she is stunned that the school district chose to remove books from shelves without an actual challenge. Eventually it becomes apparent why the author decided to do this, but by that point I'd already struggled too much. And, to be honest, I find myself once again raising an eyebrow at the ending, rather than being impressed. Readers of Allegedly will be poised in anticipation of some twist and, just as I thought it weakened the ending of that book, I feel like we are again presented with a reveal so out of left field that it's more "seriously?" than "oh my god!".

Did we miss something on diversity?

She said most libraries have written policies about how to challenge a book and what the process for review is. My immediate response was, 'What about the policy?'" she said. "I'd been on the committee to create the policy, so I knew what it was. ... I knew they were not (following) the policy." She read two sections, the second of which was sexually explicit, until her time expired. After she finished, some parents applauded her, while a school board member asked for "decorum." I always a nagging feeling while reading this but couldn’t figure out what exactly happened to Monday. This was super fast paced, I think the short chapters really helped with that and I read it in 2 days. I loved that Claudia had such supportive and loving parents but they still had rules and expectations for her. I love that there was a love interest that was a smart and kind young man and not a jerk. I loved Claudia and Monday’s relationship and how they looked out for one another. A painfully intelligent tale of child abuse, love and best friends with a few complications but if we ignore them it was WOW, SIMPLY WOW.

Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evinson, has been challenged at schools in several states, including Minnesota, Texas, and North Carolina. According to its publisher, Lawn Boy tells the story of “a young man determined to achieve the American dream of happiness and prosperity — who just so happens to find himself along the way.” The 2018 novel has been criticized for its depictions of sexual situations, including a gay sexual experience from the protagonist’s childhood. At a school board meeting, one North Carolina dad even accused the book of “normalizing the sexualization of children and stealing their innocence.” 2. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl He added, "But just because we don't have an official challenge to a book doesn't mean we can't review titles for content." A+ for the suspense and tension build-up because 15% in, I was ready to trade my mum to find out what happened to Monday. the recently retired school nurse, who could otherwise help Claudia understand Monday's disappearance, is suddenly incapable of remembering anything because she has advanced Alzheimers;

We wanted it to be ironclad, in case this ever happened," she said. "We looked at policies in 20 different districts." Across the country, books are disappearing from library shelves. In an offshoot of the conservative movement to restrict how teachers can talk about the history of race and racism in the United States, parents and politicians have demanded the removal of books they deem inappropriate for kids and teens. According to The Washington Post, between September and November of 2021, the American Library Association saw the highest number of book challenges in any three-month period since they started collecting data in 1990. First Ravi Singh from AGGGTM then Jamie from the last housewife, now Michael... damn these thriller book bfs are boyfriend-ing harder than romance book bfs ever could 💅🏽💅🏽