Quiver - teens from opposite worlds (Zo is gender fluid in a liberal family, Libby's family are evangelical Christians) become neighbors and unlikely friends

Quiver by Julia Watts

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.

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Secret City - A Teen Girl faces coming of age and coming out in a World War II-era Secret Town Where They're Building The Atomic Bomb

Secret City by Julia Watts

Ruby Pickett didn't have any say about the family move to Tennessee. Her daddy's new job will help the war effort, though no one has told her exactly how. Brand new, government-built Oak Ridge quickly proves a curious and intriguing place for the sixteen-year-old's rampant curiosity.
A voracious reader, Ruby wonders at mysteries in books and sees possible mysteries in the secrecy that surrounds Oak Ridge. She finds a kindred spirit in Iris, a young wife and mother who has moved to Oak Ridge with her scientist husband, and who chafes at the intellectual emptiness of her new home and life.
Faraway events don't seem likely to answer any of Ruby's questions, but as the war grows more destructive Ruby begins to realize that her curiosity--like her deepening feelings for Iris--may be more dangerous than she could possibly imagine.

A finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, you can add your review of "Secret City" in comments!

Finding H.F.

By Julia Watts

"H.F." stands for - don't laugh - Heavenly Faith. H.F.'s super-religious grandmother saddled her with that one. Because H.F.'s Mom left when she was a baby.

Now H.F. is 16, a budding lesbian, and she doesn't fit in anywhere. Her only friend and confidant is Bo, a gay teen boy who's also getting the rough end of living in a small religious town.

H.F. crushes on a beautiful girl, Wendy, and they actually hook up! But the next morning, Wendy freaks out.

And then H.F. finds out where her mother is - and also that her grandmother knew all along!

So H.F. and Bo hit the road to track down H.F.'s Mom. Only... things don't go the way they expect!



"Finding H.F." was the the winner of the 2001 Childrens/Young Adult Lambda Literary Award!

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