This book has changed my life.
Jennifer Niven can definitely write a story and make it into so much more than just a story. Holding Up the Universe is about about Libby Strout, who plainly put, is an overweight teenage girl. When went through a very traumatic event in her life which determined what came after. (I’m sorry if this sounds vague but I don’t want to give too much away.) In short she was dubbed “America’s Fattest Teen.” And yet… she is brilliant and lovely and courageous. She is so determined and her thought process makes me rethink my own.
On the other side, we have Jack Masselin and he has what is called prosopagnosia. He cannot recognize people, not even the ones he loves like family. He has to use identifiers; hair, ears, walk, to know who is speaking to. It was very interesting to read how Niven translated this disorder in the book. But as she explained in the acknowledgements, she did her research and it really is evident. Besides his disorder, Jack is so much more, just like Libby. He has swagger and deep deep down, past all the teenage doucheness, he has a heart of gold. And together with Libby, they changed my life.
I finished this book in two days. I probably would have finished it sooner if it weren’t for trivial things such as work. But mind has expanded and changed thanks to Libby, and I don’t think I could ever go back to thinking the same.
The message in the book is simple: “You are wanted.” That is something that everyone must hear.
Maybe I or you will never be the girl that people pine over. Or call pretty. Or want to be friends with. Not everyone will want to be friends with you. You might be the one that gets picked last in gym class. You may never be everyone’s first choice. But maybe you or I shouldn’t aim to be those things. I want to be like Libby. I want to be fierce, brilliant, brave, and most importantly resilient. I want to be remembered as that. More than just a face.
We are wanted.