The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Niven, Jennifer. Holding up the Universe. Knopf Books for Young Readers, October 4, 2016. Kindle. Prosopagnosia /präsəpaɡˈnōZH(ē)ə/ noun: 1. an inability to recognize the faces of familiar people, typically as a result of damage to the brain; 2. when everyone is a stranger. You should never have gone to the party. You should never have had a drink. You know you can’t be trusted. Avoid alcohol. Avoid crowds. Avoid people. You only end up pissing them off.

The author throws together two teens who are solely characterized by their weight and prosopagnosia (the inability to recognize faces) and, despite having zero chemistry, they fall in lurrrve. They are defined by these singular differences - i.e. being the "fat girl" and being unable to recognize anyone, never once feeling like human beings.It would be like someone telling me "Oh, you suffered from epilepsy/seizures for the first eight years of your life, that makes you a freak, so the only person who could ever love or understand you is someone who is just as socially ostracized as you are, and there's no one you can talk about it to, and it's going to keep you messing up in life and you're just going to be miserable until you find love in someone else, because apparently your self-love doesn't exist unless you're with that person ." (To which I would say a firm screw that noise. Also: true story.) My name is Libby Strout. You've probably heard of me. You've probably watched the video of me being rescued from my own house. At last count, 6,345,981 people have watched it, so there's a good chance you're one of them. Three years ago, I was American's Fattest Teen. I weighed 653 pounds at my heaviest, which means I was approximately 500 pounds overweight. I haven't always been fat. The short version of the story is that my mom died and I got fat, but somehow I'm still here. This is no way my father's fault. At once hilarious and achingly poignant, Jennifer Niven’s Holding up the Universe brims with love and heart and hope.A gorgeous, life-affirming book that—like its lovable and resilient main character, Libby—will make you want to open your arms wide, lift your face to the sky, and twirl.”—Kerry Kletter, author of The First Time She Drowned let me begin by saying i wrote my first review of this book nearly 6 months ago. i have been anticipating this book since i finished all the bright places in march of last year. i have been waiting for this copy to show up on my front porch, eagerly, for a month. atbp was one of my favorite reads of last year and the book that got me into reading, the book that fills the first posts of my bookstagram account.

To be honest, I was not a fan of All the Bright Places and I wouldn’t have been this curious about Holding Up the Universe had it not been for the controversy that erupted long before its release. But the more the issue grew, the more I got so pulled to the book that I just had to buy it when it was out on our local bookstores. This time, my gut feel was right and the book is completely worth all my curiosity. and finally, i wish people would stop rating books before they come out and before they've read them. that's not what this is for. this might be a truly beautiful work, and if you don't want to read it you can keep that to yourself. there is no need for you to rate a book one star because you misread its description. By the time we hang up two hours later, it’s 1:46 a.m. I lie there for the rest of the night waiting for my heart to return to my chest. I'm not a shitty person, but I'm about to do a shitty thing. And you will hate me, and some people will hate me, but I'm going to do it anyway to protect you and also myself".That said, I'm probably going to end up reading this book. And I won't be too happy if it completely botches the topic. Beautifully written, Niven has sold me on anything else YA she writes in the future. I always love when an author has a book I didn't connect with has the ability to write something different, it shows variety in her writing style.

And now my heart is nowhere on earth to be found. I can see it as it bypasses the moon and the stars and goes blasting into another galaxy” i understand that this is a hot-button topic. i understand that niven's thinness makes this a controversy. i understand that many people were offended by all the bright places (although not nearly as many as the number of people who loved it). Also, remember, DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER YOU’RE FAIR OR DARK, SHORT OR TALL, SKINNY OR FAT, FLAWLESS OR ZITTY, OR JUST ANYWHERE IN BETWEEN - YOU ARE WANTED - DON’T EVER LET ANYONE CONVINCE YOU OTHERWISE. IT’S NOT THEIR PLACE TO JUDGE YOU, NOT YOURS TO JUDGE THEM EITHER. Tomorrow is my first day of school since fifth grade. My new title will be high school junior, which, let’s face it, sounds a lot better than America’s Fattest Teen. But it’s hard to be anything but TERRIFIED OUT OF MY SKULL. This will sound like an excuse, but I have something called prosopagnosia, which means I can’t recognize faces, not even the faces of the people I love. Not even my mom. Not even myself.Bailey – Libby’s love interest and a kind-hearted classmate who sees beyond her weight. They develop a sweet and genuine relationship. My name is Libby Strout. You’ve probably heard of me. You’ve probably watched the video of me being rescued from my own house. At last count, 6,345,981 people have watched it, so there’s a good chance you’re one of them. Three years ago, I was America’s Fattest Teen. I weighed 653 pounds at my heaviest, which means I was approximately 500 pounds overweight. I haven’t always been fat. The short version of the story is that my mom died and I got fat, but somehow I’m still here. This is in no way my father’s fault. Gorgeously written and oh-so-deeply felt, Holding Up the Universecontains one of my favorite characters of all time! You will absolutely fall in love with Libby Strout!”—Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Everything, Everything Gorgeously written and oh-so-deeply felt - Nicola Yoon, author of Everything Everything and The Sun is Also a Star It’s interesting that how little time(1~2 days) I spent devouring 84% of the book but I had a hard time(3 days) swallowing the last 16%. Although it’s not entirely a negative sign, it’s indeed something worth discussing about for me.