4.5/5
RELEASED: 6/10/2016
PUBLISHER: Penguin
GENRE: Young Adult Contemporary“We’re all weird and damaged in our own way. You’re not the only one.”
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 see who she really is. Since her mum’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. 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 art of fitting in. What no one knows is that Jack has a 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, but he can’t understand what’s going on with the inner workings of his own 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, Libby and Jack are both angry, 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.
Jennifer Niven delivers another poignant, exhilarating love story about finding that person who sees you for who you are – and seeing them right back.
I LOVE All The Bright Places so naturally was desperate to read Holding Up The Universe and it didn’t disappoint! That said, it is totally different to ATBP since it’s a slightly more cheerful topic, making it better suited to younger teens, and the ending wasn’t sad – since its publication I’ve reassured lots of fans of Jennifer Niven who were hesitating over not wanting a read that needs a box of tissues to hand and so I would like to reassure people that THIS BOOK ISN’T THE SAME!
Something that I love about Jennifer’s writing is that on the surface we have a typical contemporary teen romance, but underneath there are layers to the story and characters which confront common and often serious conditions (although Jack’s debilitating condition of prosopagnosia is one that isn’t commonly known about) in a way that makes the writing enjoyable to read. It feels like a key element of the characters is showing that even the people who appear to have it all can have problems behind closed doors and that it is okay to be different. The issue of weight and body image also continues to be a massive problem in the modern world and this book joins the ranks as one of the brilliant books for teens dealing with this.
BEST PICTURE BOOK
BEST MIDDLE GRADE BOOK
BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK
OVERALL WINNER
The Goldfish Boy – Lisa Thompson narrated by Leon Williams
The Truth Pixie – Matt Haig narrated by Matt Haig
Notes on a Nervous Planet – Matt Haig narrated by Matt Haig
The Kissing Booth – Beth Reekles narrated by Cynthia Holloway
I Was Born For This – Alice Oseman narrated by Aysha Kala, Huw Parmenter
The Exact Opposite of Okay – Laura Steven narrated by Laura Aikman
Legendary – Stephanie Garner narrated by Rebecca Soler
To Kill a Kingdom – Alexandra Christo narrated by Jacob York, Stephanie Willis
Grandpa Christmas – Michael Morpurgo, Jim Field
How The Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr Seuss
Sproutzilla Vs. Christmas – Tom Jamieson, Mike Byrne
Ollie’s Christmas Reindeer -Nicola Killen
The Story Orchestra: The Nutcracker – Jessica Courtney-Tickle
The Night Before The Night Before Christmas – Kes Gray, Claire Powell
Last Stop on the Reindeer Express – Maudie Powell-Tuck, Karl James Mountford
The Worm and the Bird – Coralie Bickford-Smith
The Fox and the Star – Coralie Bickford-Smith
The Nightmare Before Christmas – Tim Burton
The Queen’s Present – Steve Antony
Penguin Problems – Jory John, Lane Smith
5/5
A key factor that makes Sara’s books so popular and loved is that her characters are real. They’re perfectly flawed, relatable and diverse. For example, as we’ve previously seen in her books, mental health is a key theme that she gets right – in Fierce Fragile Hearts, whether or not you have experience of anxiety, depression or bipolar, there’re parts of Suze (our main character) that are highly relatable to all readers on some level. However, the thing that I love is that those heavy topics that in so many books you have to put them down, such as abuse and mental health, don’t define the book and overshadow the story. I guess what I’m very badly trying to say is that a subject that could be incredibly triggering is presented in a way that doesn’t detract from your enjoyment of the book.
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