Holding Up the Universe

My thoughts:

At first I thought this was going to be about Libby, the once fattest teen in America who had to be cut out and crane lifted out of her house. After losing more than half of her 600 lb. weight, she decides leave her house and go to high school for the first time. She has not been to school since she was in elementary. Her ability to survive in school is not what this is about. I think this is more like a Chris Crutcher book, like Whale Talk where Libby is just the character to highlight how messed up other people are even though from the outside there seems to be nothing wrong with them. This is just a reminder there are many ways that teens are asked to "hold up the universe" and as educators and adults and parents, we need to be reminded that there are sometimes deeper issues that are invisible from the outside. Like Jack, perhaps we have our own "face blindness" by seeing traits, actions, attitudes as markers for identity without looking deeper and seeing. 

From the publishers:

Everyone thinks they know Libby Strout, the girl once dubbed "America's Fattest Teen." But no one's taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom's death, she's been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken father and her own grief. Now, Libby's ready: for high school, for new friends, for love, and for EVERY POSSIBILITY LIFE HAS TO OFFER. In that moment, I know the part I want to play here at MVB High. I want to be the girl who can do anything. 

Everyone thinks they know Jack Masselin, too. Yes, he's got swagger, but he's also mastered the impossible art of giving people what they want, of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a newly acquired secret: he can't recognize faces. Even his own brothers are strangers to him. He's the guy who can re-engineer and rebuild anything in new and bad-ass ways, but he can't understand what's going on with the inner workings of his brain. So he tells himself to play it cool: Be charming. Be hilarious. Don't get too close to anyone. 

Until he meets Libby. When the two get tangled up in a cruel high school game—which lands them in group counseling and community service—Libby and Jack are both pissed, and then surprised. Because the more time they spend together, the less alone they feel. . . Because sometimes when you meet someone, it changes the world, theirs and yours.