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.
The Name
Bellairs’ middle name is Anthony and he was born Monday, January 17, 1938. As Anthony was introduced in a fairly autobiographical story, it would be only fair to give him an autobiographical name. Perhaps in creating the surname, however, Bellairs turned to his collection of obscure literary references to recall 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 courses (see also Barnavelt, Jonathan). 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.
