Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll - OPTIONAL

Unclaimed Baggage by Jen Doll, 379 pages.  Farrar Straus Giroux (Macmillan), 2018.  $18.  

Content: Language: R (52 swears; 5 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

Fifteen year old Doris works at a store that buys unclaimed baggage.  As the summer starts, two new employees join her team.  Nell is a girl who unexpectedly had to move to Alabama but is pleasantly surprised to find such a good friend in Doris.  Grant is a boy who has fallen from his football stardom because of a drinking problem and needs a job to distract him.  Grant, Nell and Doris quickly become good friends who try to help each other with their different insecurities while finding interesting items in forgotten luggage.  

That description doesn’t do this story justice.  I really enjoyed Doris, Nell and Grant and their friendship.  The book also takes on heavy topics like racism, trying to fit in, alcoholism and sexual assault.  I cared about the characters from the start and enjoyed following their growth throughout the book.  The book content includes underage drinking, drug use, sexual assault, hate crime, and discussion surrounding a sex toy.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson