She is part of an evangelical Christian family who practices the Quiverfull lifestyle-having as many kids as God deems they should. Liberty "Libby" Hazlett is the oldest six kids (soon to be seven). Quiver may be classified as YA fiction, but it is appropriate and entertaining for both teenagers and adults. Change is now on the horizon in multiple ways. The way some of the many characters respond or even rise to the occasion is truly heartwarming or reassuring. A very serious situation that has been slowly percolating throughout suddenly reaches a crisis point. While it was predictable that the families would experience a clash of cultures - with each father standing their respective ground over long-entrenched beliefs, and Libby quickly being forbidden from any contact with the Forrester family - the final 60 pages of the story were just outstanding with the admittedly soap-opera but no less heavily dramatic developments. Still, since they're the only teenagers for the lonely miles around they easily become fast friends. I'm fine with all of this." Zo is completely at ease with her fluidity and freedom, but it throws Libby for a loop. Sometimes I feel like I don't even have a gender. She describes herself thusly "Sometimes I feel like a boy in lipstick. Tomboyish Zo fully marches to the beat of her own drummer, as evidenced by her devotion to David Bowie's androgynous years and his music. They purchased a farmhouse - the property borders the Hazlitts' - to live a quieter, slower-paced life. Zo is of similar age, but from a progressive / liberal family hailing from a nearby city. The catalyst for change would be Zo Forrester. While Libby respectfully honors her parents she internally begins to question this set way of life. Her direction in life - as outlined by her domineering father - is to soon be placed into an arranged marriage and then to have as many children (the 'quiverfull' theological position that provided inspiration for this book's title) as possible as a stay-at-home wife / mom. She's homeschooled, tasked with being a third parent to her siblings, and doesn't have contact with the outside world other than Sunday mornings at church. Liberty 'Libby' Hazlitt is sixteen, the oldest of six kids with a seventh soon on the way, growing up in an intentionally-isolated Christian patriarchal family in rural Tennessee. Quiver is narrated in alternating chapters by two teenagers who represent a world of differences. "Is it impossible for two people on such opposite sides of things to become friends? Maybe we could be like two sides of a vinyl record, not opposites so much as complementary." - Zo Forrester's musings, page 52 Through deft storytelling, built upon extraordinary character development, author Watts offers a close examination of the contemporary compartmentalization of social interactions, and forms a story that resonates far beyond its pages. 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. Meanwhile, Zo is the gender fluid offspring of Libby's new neighbors who have moved to the country from Knoxville in hopes of living a slower-paced, more natural life. 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." Like the other families who adhere to this philosophy, Libby's family regards the father as the "Christian patriarch" and leader and the mother as the "helpmeet" who gives birth to, cares for, and homeschools the children. Set in rural Tennessee, QUIVER by Julia Watts is a brilliant YA novel that focuses on the unlikely friendship between two teens from opposite sides of the culture wars.
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