On Fridays

Senior citizen mentors help a boy make sense of loss in this powerful collaboration from acclaimed creators Winsome Bingham and Jason Griffin.

On Fridays after school, Jamar takes the bus to meet Momma at the assisted living center where she works. There’s always someone interesting to talk to there, like Mr. Dillon, who twirls and slides through the halls; Mr. Riff, who wears a suit and plays guitar in his room; and Miss Neely, who teaches Jamar to garden. They’re a community—a family.

Everything is right on Fridays. But when Momma wakes Jamar up to drive back to the center in the middle of the night, he knows something must be very wrong.

Funerals are for saying goodbye, but Jamar doesn’t want to say goodbye to Miss Neely. After all, why didn’t she say goodbye to him? Momma explains it wasn’t by choice; that’s why we have to give people their flowers while they’re here.

A collaboration between acclaimed author Winsome Bingham and Caldecott Honoree Jason Griffin, On Fridays is a stirring tribute to cross-generational friendship, and a glimpse at how grief can teach us to love better. Musical text and vivid illustrations animate a close-knit cast of characters sure to remain in readers’ hearts.