Holding Up the Universe (Alfred A. Knopf, 2016) by Jennifer Niven is an interesting read told from two colliding viewpoints.
On the one side is LIbby Strout, who three years ago had to have a wall knocked down to get her out of the house. She’d lost her mother and ate and ate until she weighed 653 pounds. Now that she’s lost 302 pounds, she can walk, run, dance, ride in a car, and Libby’s going to high school. Where, of course, she’s still the biggest girl there.
On the opposite side is Jack Masselin. He has a secret–face blindness that makes it very difficult for him to tell people apart, even his own family. He covers it up by being the life of the party–being friendly with everyone. Not his girlfriend or even his family know about his problem.
A dare at school makes the two teens meet and they are forced to spend time together. The weird part is–they should be enemies–both are surprised at how well they get along.
I think the bad language could have been toned down, but I do understand there are teens who talk like this.
On her website, Jennifer Niven says her stories are “about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” That definitely fits this story. Read more about her here.
Tag: Jennifer Niven
All the Bright Places
All the Bright Places (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015) by Jennifer Niven is a difficult story to put down whether you are in Finch’s viewpoint or Violet’s. Is today a good day to die? Theodore Finch asks himself. Then he realizes he’s not alone on the ledge of the school’s six-story bell tower. He saves Violet Markey from falling and lets her save face by taking credit for saving him, the Freak. These two become partners in a school project, then more.
It’s an emotional story of relationship between two unlikely teens. I don’t want to say more and ruin the story for anyone. Let’s just say it’s a very good read. (My concern for younger students reading this is that the sex appears to be unprotected.)
The cover seems over simple, but so fits the story.
The book is going to be made into a movie and I bet will be popular like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Read more on the author’s website.
Jennifer Niven has also written historical and nonfiction books as well as YA–she’s got quite the range. See details here. I’m definitely going to check out her Velva Jean books.
I enjoyed the About Jennifer page and think you will too.