Holding Up The Universe

Libby describes her father, Will Strout, as a “big, handsome guy” with a “smushy heart” (35). The press apparently blamed him for letting Libby gain so much weight, but Libby insists that her dad “isn’t the villain they made him out to be” (36). She further explains that her weight first began spiraling out of control when her mother died when Libby was 10; this was followed by incessant bullying at school and panic attacks whenever Libby left the house. The grief and anxiety were a perfect storm, and Libby’s weight ballooned. And yet, Libby says that her father was the only person that stood beside her in her darkest times. He is also the person who drops her off at school for her first day, and as she makes her way through the halls, she thinks to herself, “Somewhere in this school could be a boy I fall in love with” (39).

When the narration returns to Jack, he is driving to school in his Land Rover with his younger brothers, Marcus and Dusty. Jack explains that his father, who had cancer but has since recovered from it, had been cheating on his mother, but “he doesn’t know I know, and I’m not sure Mom knows, but sometimes I wonder” (42).