Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

-





“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” (Niven 1). This is the first sentence of the book, Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven. I have only started the book so I don’t know too much about it but so far the book is really interesting. There are two main characters in the book, Jack and Libby. Jack is a senior in high school who has prosopagnosia. Prosopagnosia is when you can’t remember the faces of familiar people even if you know them really well. Libby was the fattest teen. She weighed 653 pounds after her mother had died and since then, she has been homeschooling until now. She decides to go back to school after going to a lot of camps, doctors, and counselors. 

Libby’s first day back to school, she doesn’t know what to expect. She genuinely wants to go school and she wants to see the outside world but her weight is stopping her from doing what she wants. She focuses on the good parts of the day and she tries to make friends. She decides what she wants to do for herself and she doesn’t care too much about what other people think of her. Libby has moved on from the past. 

Jack, like always, is having a tough time. He can’t recognize anyone’s faces; not even his parents or siblings or his best friends. He identifies people with identifiers, something that sticks out really well. He’s in an on and off relationship with Caroline Lushamp, the one person he’s the most comfortable around with. Jack and Libby meet in an interesting situation and they don’t get off on the right foot. Jack just wants to help Libby out from a problem but the way Jack solves it, makes Libby mad. 

So far, the book is really interesting and I want to know more about the characters. I think I would recommend the book because I’ve never heard of prosopagnosia before and I thought it was really interesting to learn about it. There is a lot of talk about body image and I find it engaging to read about how It is also really interesting to learn about different problems that these teens are facing and how the main character feels about all the comments and how she faces them. I also feel like I can somewhat relate to the characters (even though I don’t have Prosopagnosia) which always makes a book better in my opinion. 

Comments

  1. Ana OlsonOctober 4, 2021 at 3:43 PM

    I have also never heard of prosopagnosia before. I think it would be interesting to read this book not only to find out more about how this affects Jack's life, but also what happens to Jack and Libby in general. I agree with you that it is helpful to relate to the characters and I think it makes the book feel more real. I will definitely add this book to my reading list!
    -Ana Olson

    ReplyDelete
  2. timOctober 4, 2021 at 3:47 PM

    This books seems to be and interesting one to read. It sucks teens have to face body shame, disabilities, and other things that cause them to be judged by their peers. It seems like the book puts the reader in the main characters perspective and what they go through on a daily basis. Personally, I do not have any of these issues, but it seems to open my eyes on what people with these issues are facing.
    -Tim Park

    ReplyDelete
  3. AlinaOctober 13, 2021 at 9:31 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AlinaOctober 13, 2021 at 9:32 AM

    I have never heard of prosopagnosia, and this book kind of reminds me of 5 feet apart. This book sounds really interesting, especially trying to figure out how the two characters who have two totally different problems meet each other and maybe find things in common? This is definitely a book that I would read in the future!

    - Alina

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Would a Later School Start Time Increase Student Success? - Neeraja Nair

-
Image
       Having a later school time is a topic that is discussed among many people. I believe that there are pros and cons to both sides of the topic and it’s important to hear both sides. Many people don’t understand the cons of having a later school time. Having a later school time can affect how much sleep the student gets but in reality, I think that students will just use the later school time as an excuse to stay up longer. It is true that many students have sport activities or after school activities that take up most of their evening. Once they come back home, they might not have as much time to do homework and to study. So, having a later start time can be useful to many people.  Having a later start time can also mean that school ends later. And although this may sound fine to some people, if you actually think about it, you’re going to get home later than you usually do. Getting home later means less time to do what you have to do and less time to sle...
Read more

Why Graphene Will Take Over the World (Someday) - Henry Wang

-
Image
     Humanity has always used both artificial and natural materials to create tools and products we see today. Many famous examples are plastic, wood, steel, you name it. Ever since we began making tools we’ve seen the need to search for better and better materials to make them. So when two researchers discovered a material that could conduct electricity (extremely well), many times stronger than steel, flexible (sort of), but also insanely thin, the science community couldn’t believe their eyes. Had we just stumbled on something too good to be true? If so, why hasn’t it been widespread across the industry? Not only will this blog describe the power of graphene, it explains why it is so influential and will change our world for the better.            To start, what even is graphene? Graphene is a material that is the building block of graphite (the stuff gray stuff in your pencils) that is quite literally 2 dimensional, its thickness bei...
Read more

"Unwind" by Neal Shusterman

-
Image
  (this blog will contain minor spoilers) The novel Unwind is a book revolving around a terrifying concept. In this future world, parents can choose to “unwind” their child once they turn 13 years old but not after they turn 18. The process of “unwinding” kills the child, and their body parts and organs are given to other people. This book’s ideas cover very controversial issues, mainly abortion, but also society in general. The concept of teenager’s lives being held at their parent’s hands is very frightening, and the author does not shy away from the dark implications that the concept has. While the book has 3 main characters, the story seems to mostly focus on Conner. He is 16 years old and not a good example of a mature and responsible teenager. Although he is quite smart, he gets bad grades, rebels against the school, treats his parents badly, gets in many fights, and more. His parents decide that the best option is to have him unwound. They try to keep this information from C...
Read more