THE OTHER F-WORD

Hollis Darby-Barnes has never met her father, but she hates him.  For making her feel like a lab experiment, a half-person, a freak.  Sometimes she fantasizes about tracking the guy down, setting up a time and a place to meet, and then—right after she says, “Hi, I’m Hollis”—slapping him across the face. Milo Robinson-Clark has never met his father, but he wants to.  He’s memorized the profile: Height (six feet).  Eyes (hazel).  Hair (dark, thick, and curly).  Does he need to cut it every four weeks to avoid looking like a mushroom?  Does he also have dark, thick eyebrows?  What about body hair?  These are the things Milo wonders about. When Hollis and Milo met on a seesaw in Brooklyn a gazillion years ago, in some weird sperm donor/lesbian mom reunion, neither of them thought twice.  But when they reconnect as teenagers to find the man who gave them life, everything changes.  Only together can Hollis and Milo discover that family—in all of its weird, messy, freakish permutations—is the only thing that really matters.

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