Quiver: A Novel

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. [em]Agent: Janna Bonikowski, the Knight Agency. (Oct.) [/em]