Unboxed

A time capsule’s unboxing leads to a teen group’s reunion in a brief, compelling novel printed using dyslexia-friendly fonts. Five years prior to this book’s start, five friends created a time capsule before life took them in different directions. Now, prompted by a promise that narrator Alix made to their friend Millie before Millie’s death, the four remaining 18-year-olds have returned to their school, just outside of London, to open it. As they gather, Alix, who’s now happily out as gay, has “traveled back in time and into the closet... worried about what my friends will think.” Boisterous Ben has been living in London; cool Dean, always a bit of a mystery, remains closed off; and kindly Zara’s brought her boyfriend along. Retrieving the padlocked box from the roof of their old school turns out to be riskier than expected but also helps bring them together. And their connection grows as the contents lead them to grieve, remember their younger selves, and share facets of their current lives. Wry, observational narration offers a solid base for the friends’ tentative reconnection in this heartening, interpersonally anchored read. Zara is described as having brown skin; the other teens read as white. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)