Quiver
A Novel
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Set in rural Tennessee, QUIVER, a YA novel by Julia Watts, focuses on the unlikely friendship between two teens from opposite sides of the culture wars. Libby is the oldest child of six, going on seven, in a family that adheres to the "quiverfull" lifestyle: strict evangelical Christians who believe that they should have as many children as God allows because children are like arrows in the quiver of "God's righteous warriors." Meanwhile, her new neighbor, Zo is a gender fluid teen whose feminist, socialist, vegetarian family recently relocated from the city in search of a less stressful life. Zo and hir family are as far to the left ideologically as Libby's family is to the right, and yet Libby and Zo, who are the same age, feel a connection that leads them to friendship—a friendship that seems doomed from the start because of their families' differences.
Through deft storytelling, built upon extraordinary character development, author Watts offers a close examination of the contemporary compartmentalization of social interactions. The tensions that spring from their families’ cultural differences reflect the pointed conflicts found in today’s society, and illuminate a path for broader consideration.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Libby's evangelical Christian family lives in rural Tennessee, raising their "quiver" full of children while trying to avoid what they view as worldly corruption. Zo's hippie family moves next door to embrace a back-to-the-land lifestyle. Both families homeschool, and with few opportunities to meet other kids, Libby and Zo and their younger siblings (Zo has one; Libby has five and a sixth on the way) become friendly. Sixteen-year-old Libby is being groomed for marriage, in which she'll have to obey her husband; gender-fluid Zo is still getting over a girlfriend. The novel alternates between their voices, but it really becomes Libby's story as she wonders if her family's behaviors are what God wants. Zo's family (vegetarian, LBGTQ-friendly, crafting folks) are likable, though they scan more like foils and lightning rods for Libby's authoritarian father than as fully developed characters. The book feels a bit heavy-handed, with clear villains and heroes; even so, Watts (Rufus + Syd) is interested in the ways people connect across differences, and both Zo and Libby are sympathetic and believable, as is Libby's mother, who represents a range of life experiences and in some ways serves as the story's fulcrum. Ages 16 up.)
