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.

In the teen romance Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven, Libby Strout and Jack Masselin tell parallel stories of the challenges teens face in day-to-day life, especially if they have any characteristics that mark them as different. It is Libby’s first year back in school after the stress of the death of her mother combined with bullying at school caused her to gain so much weight she had to be rescued from her house. Jack tries to keep a secret that he has prosopagnosia, or face-blindness, a condition that makes him unable to recognize faces. He fears he will fall prey to bullying and cruelty if his weakness is discovered. When Jack and Libby’s paths cross, they strike up a friendship that encourages both to be more accepting of their faults and the faults of others.

Libby and Jack’s stories follow the same timeline with Libby narrating the opening first-person section of the book. Jack’s narration takes up at the point in time when Libby’s end. They pass the story back and forth from that point.

Libby is back in school in person for the first time since she was rescued from her house. She has undergone therapy, counseling, and has lost 302 pounds. She is determined to live life to its fullest because there was a point in her life that she feared she would never live long enough to have a life. She is still haunted by the fear of the unknown and the fear that she will die suddenly. On her first day of school, Libby meets Iris Engelbrecht, a girl who is almost as big as Libby is. Iris is crying because she has been the object of a cruel game some of the boys are playing. Libby is so angry that she runs after Dave “Kam” Kaminski, the boy who made Iris cry. Jack notices Libby because she is so fast and graceful despite her weight. He secretly hopes that Libby will catch Kam. Even though Kam is Jack’s best friend, Jack thinks that Kam’s behavior is cruel.

When Kam announces that Libby is the “prize” (71) in the game he calls the “Fat Girl Rodeo” (48) Jack decides to put an end to the game. During lunch the following day, he grabs Libby and holds onto her. He manages to stuff a letter he has written to her into her backpack. Jack is shocked when Libby pushes him off and punches him in the face hard enough to split his lip and knock him to the floor. Both are assigned to attend counseling in the school’s Conversation Circle.

Later that day, Libby finds the letter that Jack wrote to her. He shares with her that he has prosopagnosia. She is the only one he has told. He tells her that he did not want to hurt her, but also wanted to put an end to the game. When Libby and Jack talk in person, Libby encourages him to research his disorder and consider getting tested. Jack arranges a meeting with a researcher during which he learns that he does have a severe case of face-blindness. The researcher tells Jack that based on his symptoms, the disorder was probably caused when he fell from the roof of his house and hit his head when he was six.

Meanwhile, Jack and Libby have realized they are attracted to one another. Jack takes Libby on a date to Clara’s Pizza King, a unique restaurant in Richmond because he has happy memories of the restaurant. Libby, however, suspects he has taken her there because he did not want to be seen with her in their hometown. Jack must wonder to himself if that was his unintended intention. When his friends begin to criticize him for dating Libby, Jack tells Libby he is unable to maintain the relationship.

Since the beginning of the year, Libby had been finding letters stating “You aren’t wanted” (180) in her locker. She tries out for the Damsels, the school’s dance team, but is not chosen. Shortly after the tryouts, Libby receives another letter that states: “You aren’t wanted. (I told you so.)” (296). Libby retaliates by standing in the middle of the school hallway wearing an electric purple bikini with the words “I am wanted” (309) written on her stomach. She hands out copies of a treatise she has written in which she criticizes the person who has been telling her she is not wanted because she has friends and family who do want her. Libby challenges others who have had those words said to them not to believe them.

The novel climaxes when Libby breaks up a fight between Jack and Moses Hunt at an after-school party. Jack, who was drunk, had accidentally kissed another boy’s girlfriend believing that it was a girl he once dated. Libby drives Jack home and learns that he lives in the house across the street from the house that had to be cut open for her to be rescued. Jack tells her that he watched when she was rescued, but did not think it was a joke. He told her that he had been rooting for her. Libby recognizes the words for a letter she received while she was in the hospital. Even though Jack had not known her then, he had written her a letter to encourage her. That night, Jack tells his family about his face-blindness.

Afterward, Jack thinks about Libby and how much he misses her company. He suddenly realizes that even though he cannot recall a mental image of the other important people in his life, he knows what Libby looks like. He tells her that she is the only person he can “see” (383) in that way. He tells her that he believes he can see her in this way because he loves her. When he kisses Libby and then takes her hand, he feels as if he has come home.