Julia Watts is the author of QUIVER, a young adult novel published by Three Rooms Press in October 2018. QUIVER tells the story of an unusual friendship between two teenage girls in rural Tennessee. QUIVER received VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) Magazine’s highest honor, a “Perfect Tens” review, which is achieved by less than 2 percent of all books reviewed in the esteemed journal. Watts’ book also was selected as an OKRA Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, and was shortlisted for the Foreword Reviews Indie Award for best Young Adult novel of 2018.
In addition to QUIVER, Watts has published nine other young adult novels. Her novel Finding H.F. won the 2002 Lambda Literary Award in the Children’s/Young Adult category. Her 2013 young adult novel Secret City was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and a winner of a Golden Crown Literary Award.
Watts’ young adult fiction focuses on the lives of LGBTQ characters from the Appalachia area of the United States. Watts was born in this area in Southern Kentucky, and felt that LGBTQ teens in this largely rural and small town region had few role models and a lack of a support system that accepted their gender and sexual orientation. By writing novels where LGBTQ characters are a part of the fabric of Appalachian life, Watts hopes too “make a change for the better by showing kids from rural and small towns that being lesbian or gay is not a choice and is not wrong. It’s just who you are. Knowing this can change a kid’s life for the better. It could even save a kid’s life.”
In addition to her award-winning young adult novels, Watts has also achieved critical recognition for her adult novels and short stories. A novel for adults, The Kind of Girl I Am, was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in the Women’s Fiction category. She was nominated for the 2005 Lambda Literary award for best erotica short story for her story “La Belle Rose” in the anthology Once Upon a Dyke: New Exploits of Fairy Tale Lesbians (Bella Books).
Julia holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University and has spoken frequently at various national and regional conferences, including the AWP Conference, the NCTE Conference, the Appalachian Studies Association Conference, and the Denham Symposium on Appalachian Literature. She teaches at South College and in Murray State University’s low-residency MFA in Writing program. Julia was recently inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame. She currently resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she is pursuing her doctoral degree in children’s and young adult literature from the University of Tennessee.
About QUIVER: A Novel by Julia Watts
Quiver
by Julia Watts
“QUIVER is an amazing, heartfelt book with a powerful lesson to share. Nearly all young adults feel judged or excluded at some point in their lives; this story will help anyone, no matter their situation, see that acceptance is possible.” —Foreword Reviews, starred review
“A wonderful story of friendship…For anyone who has felt “different,” Watts’s novel will be ultimately relatable.” —VOYA Magazine, Perfect 10 Rating
“Sympathetic and believable.” —Publishers Weekly
“This just may be the perfect book for our times, when acknowledgement of common ground and empathy are sorely needed.” —New York Journal of Books
“[A] story about families and the difference between love and obedience. . . . Thoughtful.” —School Library Journal
“HIGHLY Recommend. This is the type of book that can make magic happen: it can open minds and challenge viewpoints through the unfolding of a truly beautiful story.” —Amy Christine Parker, author, Gated
Set in rural Tennessee, QUIVER by LAMBDA Award-winning author Julia Watts is a brilliant YA novel that 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.
QUIVER: a novel, by Julia Watts; 5.5″ x 8.25″ Trade Perfect Bound; color cover with b/w interior; 300 pages; ISBN 978-1-941110-66-9 (TRP-068); $15.95
Distributed by PGW/Ingram
High Praise for QUIVER by Julia Watts
“QUIVER is an amazing, heartfelt book with a powerful lesson to share. Nearly all young adults feel judged or excluded at some point in their lives; this story will help anyone, no matter their situation, see that acceptance is possible.” —Foreword Reviews, starred review
“A wonderful story of friendship…For anyone who has felt “different,” Watts’s novel will be ultimately relatable.” —VOYA Magazine, Perfect 10 Rating
“This just may be the perfect book for our times, when acknowledgement of common ground and empathy are sorely needed.” —New York Journal of Books
“Sympathetic and believable.” —Publishers Weekly
“Opens important conversations about faith, family, independence, and identity.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A thought-provoking young adult novel that explores fundamental Christianity and gender-fluidity . . . absolutely outstanding.” —Book Reviews and More by Kathy
“Discussions of values and morality are straightforward and thoughtful, offering some provocative opportunities for readers to articulate their own possibly unquestioned views in discussion. The atmosphere is vivid: Watts’ knowledge of country Tennessee shines through in the details.” —The Bulletin of the the Center for Children’s Books
“A hopeful book. . . . Recommended for readers who seek possible bridges across the divides in our society.” —Me, You, and Books
“Worlds collide when Liberty, the eldest daughter of a fundamental Christian family meets Zo, a progressive, liberal teen. At first it seems the two are vastly different, but soon they discover they have something very important in common: their shared humanity. Told from alternating points of view, this beautifully written book is just what the world needs right now. QUIVER aimed for my heart and hit it straight on.” —Lesléa Newman, author October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard
“HIGHLY Recommend. This is the type of book that can make magic happen: it can open minds and challenge viewpoints through the unfolding of a truly beautiful story.” —Amy Christine Parker, author, Gated
“Julia Watts is a natural-born storyteller, and in her latest novel she has quite a story to tell. In its empathic and even-handed focus on the unlikely friendship between two teens whose families are on opposite sides of the religious/political spectrum, QUIVER is a necessary book that’s both of and for these terrible times.” —Robin Lippincott, author, Blue Territory: A Meditation on the Life and Art of Joan Mitchell, and Rufus + Syd
“Julia Watts’ latest novel captures, with painful accuracy, the pointed conflicts between liberals and ultra-conservatives, tensions that pervade the United States in general and Appalachia in particular at this perilous point in our country’s history. QUIVER is one of the most moving books I’ve ever read. —Jeff Mann, author, Cub and Country
“With QUIVER, Julia Watts captures the essence of growing up in two wildly disparate families, and weaves a unique, compassionate tale of unlikely friendship. It’s impossible not to root for Libby and Zo! —Meagan Brothers, author, Weird Girl and What’s His Name
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