The novel’s narrator says that she is going to tell the story of how her best friend disappeared from their Washington, D.C., neighborhood, and no one seemed to care but her. A year later, a podcast has emerged, bringing the story up again for the narrator, although her doctor tells her to stop talking about it. 

Narrator Claudia Coleman, arriving back home after spending the summer with her grandmamma in Georgia, wanted to know if Ma (Janet Coleman) had seen her best friend, Monday Charles. Claudia was worried because Monday hadn’t responded to any of her letters over the summer, like she usually did.

Though they aren’t rich, the Colemans don’t live in poverty. The neighborhoods they passed through were resisting gentrification. Claudia immediately tried to call Monday upon arriving home, but Monday’s phone seemed to be disconnected. Claudia’s suspicion deepened.

On the first day of eighth grade, Ma made Claudia a big breakfast, a first-day-of-school tradition. She made sure Claudia would be accounted for by adults between school and home. “Ain’t nothing wrong with you checking in so someone knows where you are. Breadcrumbs, Claudia. Always good to leave breadcrumbs” (8).