Fingerprints of You

“I wanted a permanent address, a home with enough space for us to unpack all the boxes, a family that made more sense than we did.” Seventeen-year-old Lemon is tired of being dragged around the country while her impulsive and artistic mother, Stella, gets involved with one lousy boyfriend after another. After a fling with a tattoo artist, Lemon discovers she’s pregnant, and she and Stella land in Morgantown, West Va. There, Lemon makes a brash new friend, Emmy, who Lemon persuades to accompany her on a cross-country road trip to San Francisco, as Lemon seeks the birth father she never knew. Lemon and Emmy head to California on a Greyhound bus over Christmas break, and Lemon doesn’t plan on returning until she has answers. Debut novelist Madonia offers an intimate reflection on the meaning of family, as Lemon struggles with Stella’s instability and weighs their relationship against her own impending motherhood. Lemon’s memories of her peripatetic upbringing are skillfully woven throughout this thoughtful story about finding an identity and a home. Ages 14–up. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents. (Aug.)