Holding Up the Universe

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My name is Libby Strout. You've probably heard of me. You've probably watched the video of me being rescued from my own house. At last count, 6,345,981 people have watched it, so there's a good chance you're one of them. Three years ago, I was American's Fattest Teen. I weighed 653 pounds at my heaviest, which means I was approximately 500 pounds overweight. I haven't always been fat. The short version of the story is that my mom died and I got fat, but somehow I'm still here. This is no way my father's fault. Jennifer Niven is the Emmy Award-winning #1 New York Times and International bestselling author of ten books, including All the Bright Places and Holding up the Universe. Her books have been translated in over 75 languages, and All the Bright Places has won literary awards around the world, including the GoodReads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction of 2015. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Time Magazine, NPR, the Guardian, Publisher's Weekly, YALSA, Barnes & Noble, BuzzFeed, the New York Public Library, and others, and was the #1 Kids' Indie Next Book for Winter '14-'15. The film starring Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Luke Wilson, and Keegan-Michael Key, is now streaming on Netflix, with a script by Jennifer and Liz Hannah (The Post). the "lifted out of her house by a crane"/other uses of fat as an insult: like i said, probably misguided. but definitely a reflection of the girl's self-image (certainly something that will be a theme throughout the work) rather than an attempt to insult overweight people. But the story really began with that reader interaction. I wrote this book for Christine in the United States, for Jayvee in the Philippines, for Steysha in Ukraine, for Paolo in Brazil, for Steph in the UK, for Shubham in India, and for all the others like them. These vibrant, smart, giant-hearted teens who need and deserve to be seen, and who need to know they are wanted. They are necessary. They are loved. The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Niven, Jennifer. Holding up the Universe. Knopf Books for Young Readers, October 4, 2016. Kindle.

Niven’s honest writing shares a story of friendship, confidence, strength, and identity—and it’s not one to be missed.” —Buzzfeed I'm sure some readers will see the decision to have such different protagonists as an indication of depth, but I truly feel like this is a very shallow book. Stereotypes and cliches abound. Dress it up however you want, but this book is about an unpopular girl who sees herself as unattractive, and a popular good-looking guy who comes to see how said girl is so much better than all those hot, evil cheerleaders he's been dating. His hot, evil girlfriend constantly fat-shames and bullies Libby, obviously, because we all know pretty popular girls are mean, shallow and have no feelings. I’m not a shitty person, but I’m about to do a shitty thing. And you will hate me, and some other people will hate me, but I’m going to do it anyway to protect you and also myself. Therefore, their romance here is probably the purest type I’ve ever seen and I honestly like it. I can see that whenever they talk, they’re living in their private bubble and nobody in the world can interrupt their conversation nor can anyone deprive them of their borrowed freedom. To my disappointment, I actually don’t find the main point of the story (and it’s also how ”You are wanted.” becomes the most notable quote)—when Libby wears her purple bikini and hands out sheets of flier in public that says “YOU ARE WANTED” along with her personal story—memorable or meaningful. I mean, she’s proving to everyone that she isn’t that girl who scarfed all the junk food down her throat nonstop and gave up on herself but instead, she’s already stepped out of her comfort zone and decided to blend into the rest of them. However, I can’t connect to her at all by the means she uses so the whole scene looks a bit out of place for me.

Niven] createstwo indelible characters and a heart-stopping romance.”— Publishers Weeklystarred review

Then they end up in group counseling together. This is not a boy rescue the fat girl story. This is a story of two people realizing who exactly they are..and owning it. Her memoir, The Aqua-Net Diaries: Big Hair, Big Dreams, Small Town, was published in February 2010 by Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, and was optioned by Warner Bros. as a television series. and finally, i wish people would stop rating books before they come out and before they've read them. that's not what this is for. this might be a truly beautiful work, and if you don't want to read it you can keep that to yourself. there is no need for you to rate a book one star because you misread its description. The ending? Nah. I don’t buy that. I wasn’t really invested in the romance, and frankly this book is more than just the romance. It doesn’t dominate the book. It doesn’t dwindle the actual message. Libby, once labeled as “America’s Fattest Teen” embarks on a journey of self-acceptance and embraces her unique qualities.

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Idk how any kid can live up to 16 years without their parents not recognizing they have prosopagnosia. but then, soon, I was bored and didn't care very much about this entire story or the characters. I even found the writing irritating and i wonder if thats mainly my own fault, and not the books. ‘all the bright places’ is one my favourite novels ever. its emotionally compelling, lovingly tender, and naturally raw - everything this book is not. so is it fair to judge a different book by the same author when you know they are capable of doing better? A moving, uplifting story that encourages people to be comfortable in their own skin, in their physical appearance/condition because that is what makes every person uniquely beautiful.