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KHCPL_Tree
Nov 05, 2017KHCPL_Tree rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Enter Libby Strout once known as “America’s Fattest Teen”, and Jack Masselin, swoony popular high school stud, and throw them into Breakfast Club-esque detention sessions after a beat down from a bad attempt at a horrible prank and you have Holding Up the Universe. These two unlikely characters are thrown together and find that they can confide their troubles and secrets with EACH OTHER….and they are heavy burdens upon their teen shoulders. Libby suffers from extreme grief that caused her massive life-altering weight gain but she is on the road to recovery and is refreshingly confident amid high school ridicule. She doesn’t know that Jack witnessed her most embarrassing moment and that he really didn’t want to hurt her with his prank. Jack suffers from an extreme from a Face Blindness and has worked out a system so that no one ever knows until he mistaking kisses the wrong girl. It gets harder for him to hide his condition while learning more family secrets, the burden keeps growing. But with the help of Libby and their intense attraction the weight of the universe becomes shared. This book is set in Indiana, it’s a well written and realistic tale of teens trying to navigate the world as best they can while finding out that sometimes it’s best to not shoulder the burdens of the world alone. It has a dual POV that shows there is more to another person that what you are shown. High School antics such as mild violence, language, sex, drugs, and alcohol are mentioned and experienced but are not the heart of the story.