Title: Finding H.F. Author: Julia Watts Publisher: Alyson Buttfuck Kentucky, a small town dominated by rednecks and religious righters. It's here where we find our young heroine, Heavenly Faith Simmons, the HF of the title, 16, a misfit and in love with one of her only female friends. Having grown up with her grandmother, she decides to hit the road with her best friend, the serious and seriously-camp Bo, in search of her birth mother who appears to be living it up in Florida. And so begins an intriguing update on the road novel made famous by Kerouac's voyages of discovery in the 50s. Watts' narrative style is a lot-less speed addled, but essentially explores similar themes - the desire to belong, the role of the outcast in contemporary America, the value of friendship in difficult times. The characters met along the way also offer an intriguing insight into the way gay and lesbians live in the deep south, from young kids who'd rather live on the streets then in an abusive and homophobic house to older queens using their sugar-daddy relationships to help out the young and homeless. Finding H.F. is also an update on the Judy Blume voyages of discovery many readers will be familiar with from their teenage years. It's a novel that seems far more aware of social realities, and as such offers a text that neither talks down to nor preaches to the reader. Accordingly it can be read by teenagers and adults alike, with the central and surrounding characters developed in enough detail and conviction to offer a rewarding journey. If you don't like long thick novels, or you have a younger sibling with a birthday coming up, this book may well be the right choice.