Unclaimed Baggage

Starred review from June 11, 2018
What happens to the suitcases left unclaimed at airports? They go to stores that sort through, and sell, their contents. Sixteen-year-old Doris works at just such a store in a small Alabama town, as do Nell and fellow high schooler Grant, and the three teens become unlikely friends. Doris is an anomaly in their conservative town because she doesn’t believe in God—and doesn’t mind saying so; Nell’s family has just moved from Chicago; and Grant was a local football hero, until his drinking cost him his position on the team, his girlfriend, and his self-respect. In her YA debut, Doll skillfully integrates three alternating voices—especially Doris, with her gift for finding things—in a story threaded through with relationships and identities lost and found. Over the course of the summer, junk and treasures, both sentimental and real, pass through the shop; family history is reclaimed; and things, stories, and people find new places to belong. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ryan Harbage, Fischer-Harbage Agency.

July 1, 2018
Three teens form a tight friendship while working together at a store in small-town Alabama that sells the contents of people's long-lost airplane luggage.Reluctant newcomer Nell is desperate for a job when she ventures into Unclaimed Baggage. She is hired by Doris, who has her fair share of enemies in her conservative, religious town since she stopped attending church and whose best friend, Maya, who is a Jewish lesbian, is away for the summer. Nell and Doris establish a near instant rapport and eventually widen their circle to encompass Grant, a disgraced high school football star, who struggles with alcohol abuse. Plenty of emotional baggage is unpacked in alternating narrative style in this deceptively weighty novel, particularly between Doris and Grant, who have a history together that rings true to the way peer dynamics often play out in small, insular communities. Grant's realistic experience with using alcohol to cope with anxiety is described with compassion. Doris, Grant and Nell are all white. There are secondary characters who are black, and Nell's boyfriend, Ashton, is biracial. Despite striking a comedic tone early on, this novel lands decidedly in dramatic territory, and its overly neat ending may strike readers as pat.Teens who favor realistic fiction will find much to like here. (Fiction. 14-18)

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August 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Nell moves from Chicago to Alabama in the middle of her high school career; she's not happy about leaving her boyfriend or her friends behind. She winds up working at a store that sells lost or left behind items from airports. Nell connects with her new coworker Doris. Together they start bonding with Grant. He used to be the town football hero before he drove while drunk, smashed his car, and broke his girlfriend's arm. Now he's trying desperately to regain control over alcohol and his life. The change of pace at the store from his football friends is helping him. They form a tight-knit trio who work to overcome their personal baggage and find their true selves. Doll's YA debut packs a punch. Nestled into this breezy book about friendship and love sits conversations on racism, religion, sexual assault, alcoholism, and life choices. The friendship among Nell, Doris, and Grant creates a safe place where the three of them can come to terms with issues and not be judged. The quirky store where they work sets the tone for the novel. VERDICT A great choice for fans of Morgan Matson's Since You've Been Gone.-Jennifer Rummel, Cragin Library, Colchester, CT

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