Anthony Monday lives with his family in the community of Hoosac, Minnesota and is the second young lead character created by John Bellairs. Anthony is usually teamed up with elderly librarian Myra Eells in their adventures, which have ranged from treasure hunts in the local library to battling demonic forces in the upper Midwest area and even traveling to other worldly dimensions.

Anthony lives with his family: Howard Monday, his father, owns Monday’s Cigar Store, which contrary to the name is in fact a saloon; his mother, Ginny, who is a housewife and worries endlessly about the family money problems; and older brother Keith, who is a hot shot with cars and works as a mechanic downtown.

Naming

As Anthony was introduced in a fairly autobiographical story, it would be only fair to give him an autobiographical name. That said, we present a list of theories, some more likely than not:

• The most likely theory involves Bellairs again turning to his collection of obscure literary references and recalling the name of the Elizabethan author, poet and dramatist Anthony Munday (1553-1633). Bellairs would have most likely been introduced to Munday in graduate literature coursesss. Munday spent his early years as an actor before turning his trade to writing; works attributed to Munday include The Mirror of Mutability (1579), two plays on the legend of Robin Hood, The Downfall and Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington (both 1601), and Mother Redcap (1597) - which might be an inside joke of Bellairs', considering Anthony Monday is noted as being quite fond of wearing red caps.
• Bellairs’ middle name is Anthony and he was born on a Monday.
• John had a cousin named Keith Anthony.
• The least likely theory we’ve found comes from the old Marshall-based Monday Club, which began as the Ladies’ Literary Club back in 1885. Carver’s Marshall [514-5] notes the club was “philanthropic” in nature and sought to improve the “general culture” of the community. They met in various homes and buildings around town including the Public Library building from around 1950 to 1961. We doubt there’s a connection but laughed at the notion of yet another Monday being located in a library.

On television, Keith Coogan portrayed Miss Eells in the 1980 program, The Clue According to Sherlock Holmes.