Holding Up the Universe

Once, Libby Strout was known across the country as "America's Fattest Teen," rescued from her home by a crane after her grief over her mother's death spiraled into years of isolation. Now she is ready to return to high school and to live rather than hide. Jack Masselin looks like he has it all together, popular and effortlessly charming, but he is hiding a secret: he has prosopagnosia, or face blindness, and cannot recognize the people he loves, including his own family.

When a cruel bullying game throws Libby and Jack together, their collision forces both of them to stop performing the versions of themselves the world expects. What begins in humiliation slowly becomes honesty, and then something like understanding, as each helps the other feel a little less alone.

Holding Up the Universe is a young-adult novel by Jennifer Niven, the author of All the Bright Places. Told in the alternating voices of Libby and Jack, it is a warm, funny, and compassionate story about visibility, self-worth, and the courage it takes to be truly seen.