Lost Property (novel)
Lost Property (ISBN 9780670029433) is a young adult novel by Australian author James Moloney. First published in 2005, it is about a teenage boy in Sydney who loses direction in his life. It was a Children's Book Council of Australia Honour Book for 2006, and was also shortlisted for the ABPA Book Design Awards, the Children's Peace Lit Award, the New South Wales State Literary Award and the NSW Premier's Literary Award.[1]
Synopsis
The book is about Josh Tambling who is well loved and cared for by his Mum and Dad. Josh and his mates have formed a grunge metal band and dream of being rock gods. But when he lands a holiday job in the Lost Property Office at Sydney’s Central station, Josh starts to sense the loss of some important things in his life. One is that his brother Michael has drifted off and will not let anyone know where he is. The stress this is putting on his family grows, so when Josh discovers a clue to Michael’s whereabouts while handling lost items in his work, he sets out to find him.
Josh Tambling is the son of a famous footballer and a very well known radio station host. He is in a band with his mates. He has a girlfriend named Alicia. During the holidays he works at the Lost Property office. On his first day a lady requests a coat and Josh gives it to her but she doesn't find what she really wanted, a brooch. Josh's supervisor, Clive, explains that sometimes they separate clothing and other valuable items. Clive finds the brooch in that was kept in the safe and it belongs to the woman. She is overcome with emotion and explains that even though it is of little monetary value, it is a family heirloom and very important to her. Here, Josh realises how important small things can be to people. He goes for a band practice with his boys and they meet his friend Steve's sister, Gemma. The next night Josh goes to Alicia's house and goes into the pool. They play around and look at the stars and Josh confesses that he believes that the universe is big for no reason. His trust in God slowly decreases. He goes to work again and in the afternoon goes for another band practice. He talks to Gemma about the same conversation he had with Alicia and she responds that there is more out there than just a big waste of space. The band decide to go to The Domain for New Year's Eve. When they go Josh sits next to Alicia and his friend Neven sits next to Gemma and their relationship is revealed.
That evening Josh finds himself dwelling on the last thing Clive said to him, which was “Don’t forget, two in the is worth three in the bush”. Josh is in the train home when he answers to a calling, he starts picking up all the lost plastic in his carriage then follows on to do all the carriages. He continues to do this on another train, then another until he reaches Cronulla Station. There was not a train until 5:30am. He was lost.