Liberty Ayers Character Analysis in Dear Justyce

Liberty is Quan’s caseworker’s intern—though the caseworker never appears in the novel, and Liberty seems to be on Quan’s case by herself. She’s a gorgeous young Black woman and a sophomore at Emory University. As a kid, she got in serious trouble, fell in with a gang, and served a 12-month sentence for stealing a car at age 14. Rather than ruin her life, though, that sentence changed her life for the better. Liberty’s own caseworker made her feel seen and presumably inspired her to study to become a caseworker herself. Liberty’s life trajectory helps Quan understand the importance of having positive, invested role models. Quan’s relationship with Liberty is somewhat complicated, as he develops a major crush on her the first time they meet. This isn’t unusual; both Justyce and Jared experience much the same thing to varying degrees. Liberty is extremely confident and has no issue telling the boys off for expressing interest in her. At the end of the novel, Quan discovers that Liberty has a girlfriend.

Liberty Ayers Character Timeline in Dear Justyce

The timeline below shows where the character Liberty Ayers appears in Dear Justyce. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Quan writes that he’s in love. Her name is Liberty Ayers and she’s gorgeous, though she told Quan off for checking her out. She’s the... (full context)

Liberty met someone who wouldn’t let her “bury her bright spots.” And all this has Quan... (full context)

...so many questions in his last letter. But Quan has answers, since both Doc and Liberty have been asking him the same things. But first, some news: Quan will graduate high... (full context)

Justice, Racial Bias, and Growing Up Theme Icon

...time, a “young (almost) man’s freedom is on the line.” Justyce thanks Attorney Friedman, Doc, Liberty, Jared, and SJ for coming. He lays out the facts: Quan has been incarcerated since... (full context)

Doc and Liberty say that Quan is loyal to a fault. When Attorney Friedman asks them to elaborate,... (full context)

Even though Liberty and Tay prepared Quan for Mama’s visit, Quan still feels like he’s going to be... (full context)

Quan thinks back to the prep meeting he had with Liberty and Tay. Their desire to protect his mental and emotional health shook him. Liberty explained... (full context)

...has his diploma, but Doc still shows up and gives assignments. Apparently Attorney Friedman and Liberty pulled some strings and now, Quan is earning college credit. Doc also wants to set... (full context)

...saying that she, Dasia, and Gabe are moving to the suburbs. Doc might know that Liberty turned down a job offer to stay on Quan’s file. (full context)

...Martel that kind of money, he must also be in debt to Tay, Attorney Friedman, Liberty, Doc, and Justyce. The ledger makes Quan ask his least favorite questions: why anyone is... (full context)

...he feels weird writing to Justyce already, two days after Justyce left, but he’s struggling. Liberty is headed back to school too, which means she won’t be on his case anymore.... (full context)

...two successful Black men madly in love. It was helpful when later, Quan ran into Liberty. He didn’t bat an eye when he asked her out and she said she had... (full context)

...and SJ are doing. They’re doing well. Quan admits he’d love to find someone like Liberty, and Justyce laughs and shares that Jared ran into Liberty at a restaurant. She chewed... (full context)