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Libby Strout has already lived through her worst nightmare.  After a massive weight gain following her mother's sudden death, Libby had to be cut and craned out of her home.  The videos went viral, earning her the nickname "America's Fattest Teen."  A 300+ weight loss has given the 16-year-old some confidence and Libby's ready to give real life a do-over.  At 351 lbs., she knows she'll still be a target, but maybe this time, her classmates will look beyond her weight and get to know her for the smart, spunky person she really is. 

Jack Masselin goes to great pains to be the cool guy around school.  If the 17-year-old can fake it well enough, no one will know about the secrets he hides.  His prosopagnosia makes recognizing people—even his own family—almost impossible sometimes.  No one can know about this freaky little side effect of his screwed-up brain.  He hides it, as well as problems at home, by being smooth, charming, and sometimes, a class A jerk.

When a horrifying prank ends with Libby and Jack in detention together, the two make a surprising connection.  Libby doesn't trust Jack's new attentiveness and Jack's not sure his cool factor can survive an unwitting attraction to the resident fat girl.  Can two very different teens look past their own anger, anxiety, and prejudice to really see each other?  If they're honest with each other, can they finally be real with themselves?  

Holding Up the Universe, Jennifer Niven's newest contemporary YA, tells an affecting story about two teens searching for themselves in the confusing corridors of high school.  Libby, of course, is wholly sympathetic.  Bold and sassy, she's easy to cheer on, easy to root for.  Jack's initial jerkiness makes him a little less appealing, but his vulnerability and changed ways makes up for it in the end.  While Holding Up the Universe definitely has its dark moments, overall it's a bright, encouraging story that teaches important lessons about being yourself, being brave, and being kind.  The plot gets idealistic, also a tad unrealistic as Jack (eventually) shows way more maturity than any high school boy I've ever known.  A PG-13 version of this book would have been more enjoyable for me (and easier to recommend), but all in all, I enjoyed Holding Up the Universe.

(Readalikes:  Wonder by R.J. Palacio; Butter by Erin Jade Lange; Skinny by Donna Cooner; and A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for strong language, sexual innuendo, and depictions of illegal drug use and underage drinking

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of Holding Up the Universe from the generous folks at Penguin Random House.  Thank you!

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has long championed the family as a sacred institution ordained of God.  It has always urged its members to honor and protect this most precious of God's gifts.  How?  By using the formula reiterated in the Church's 1995 proclamation to the world: "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."  Of course, Mormon families vary as much as any others, meaning they don't always fit this LDS "ideal."  And yet, this is what members of the faith try to cultivate, believing that strong families lead to strong individuals, strong communities, and strong nations.  

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Defenders of the Family from the generous folks at Cedar Fort.  Thank you!

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After her throat is nearly slit in a knife fight with a child molester, Aleut detective Kate Shugak retreats to the Alaskan bush to (figuaratively) lick her wounds.  Haunted by her days as a sex crimes investigator in Anchorage, the 30-year-old desperately needs time away.  There's no better place to be alone than the wilderness, where she leads a solitary existence with just her wolf-dog, Mutt.  

When a very green park ranger from Ohio goes missing in the bush, Kate is called in to investigate.  Mark Miller, the 21-year-old son of a U.S. Congressman, is an enthusiastic and naive supporter of opening federal lands to outsiders.  Did he tick off the wrong local?  Or just get lost in the vast and vicious Alaskan wilderness?  Kate suspects the former.  Determined to figure out what happened to the congressman's kid, she sifts through clues that point in an ever more sinister direction.  Can Kate keep her own demons at bay long enough to find the answers she seeks?  Can she solve a mystery, the investigation of which is becoming more and more dangerous every day?  Or will Kate be the next person to mysteriously disappear in the harsh Alaskan bush?

A Cold Day for Murder, the first novel in Dana Stabenow's popular mystery series starring Kate Shugak, brings Alaska to vivid life, introducing colorful characters, complex politics, and a beautiful, unforgiving landscape. The story also offers a pull-no-punches plot with a very intriguing heroine at its center.  A study in contrasts, Kate is tough but compassionate, cold but warm, angry but accommodating (at least when someone needs her help).  It's difficult not to admire her tenacity.  Although A Cold Day for Murder gets slow in places, overall it tells a compelling story.  It's gritty and gruesome, true, but it's also surprisingly funny at times.  For the most part, I enjoyed it.

(Readalikes:  Reminded me of The Wild Inside by Christine Carbo; the Lizzy Snow series [Winter at the Door; The Girls She Left Behind]  by Sarah Graves; the Anna Pigeon series [Track of the Cat; etc.] by Nevada Barr; and the Bell Elkins series [A Killing in the Hills; Bitter River; Summer of the Dead; Last Ragged Breath; Sorrow Road; and Fast Falls the Night] by Julia Keller)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for strong language, violence, blood/gore, sexual content, and disturbing subject matter (child abuse, alcohol abuse, poverty, etc.)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

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Everyone knows the story of the ill-fated Titanic, which struck an iceberg in the frigid Atlantic Ocean on the evening of April 14, 1912.  Its subsequent sinking has been recounted in dozens of books, movies, news articles, etc.  What about the S.S. Californian, though?  Although the name may be familiar to some, how many of us know the tale of "The Ship of Shame"?  I didn't know much about it until reading The Midnight Watch, a debut novel by David Dyer.  

Through the eyes of John Steadman, an intrepid reporter for the Boston American (a real newspaper published in Massachusetts between 1906 and 1961), we learn the sordid details.  On April 14, the Californian was positioned only a few miles north of Titanic.  Herbert Stone, the former's second officer, spotted distress rockets from the latter during his midnight watch.  Although he wasn't positive what he was seeing, he awoke Stanley Lord, the Californian's captain, anyway.  Ignoring Stone's concern, Lord returned to his bed.  Although a total of eight rockets were fired throughout the night, they continued to be ignored.  Once the horrifying scale of the Titanic tragedy was discovered, Lord's inaction seemed especially suspect.  Why did the captain, a respected seaman known to be both scrupulous and brave, do nothing to aid the sinking ship?  If he had immediately steamed to Titanic's rescue, could the lives of 1500 people have been saved?  Is Stanley Lord directly responsible for that staggering loss?

This is the question that spurs on the fictional Steadman.  As his tenacious search turns up more and more concerns about Lord's curious failure to act, he knows he must uncover the truth.  Although "the truth" Steadman finds is highly controversial, even today, it makes for mesmerizing reading. 

Impeccably researched by Dyer—a highly-educated Australian maritime lawyer with extensive sea-faring experience—the novel is taut, gripping, and astounding in its implications.  Using a fresh angle, The Midnight Watch brings a unique perspective to the tragedy, serving up intriguing historical facts on a bed of engrossing, well-written fiction.  If you, like me, are endlessly fascinated by the Titanic disaster, you simply can't miss this excellent novel.

(Readalikes:  Other Titanic novels, including The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf and I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for violence, blood/gore, and mature subject matter (prostitution, alcoholism, etc.)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find