Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Eric Calhoune and Sarah Byrnes have been friends for nearly forever. They make the perfect pair... Eric is fat and Sarah Byrnes's face and hands were burned when she was three and are horribly scarred. They didn't have any other friends. They only had each other.

Several years have passed. Eric has joined the swim team and has earned the nickname Moby because he's a swimmer, but eats even more than he did before. His plan? Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. He cares so much for Sarah Byrnes that he's afraid to lose weight and make new friends for fear of leaving her behind. She acts tough and pretends she doesn't care about anything, that nothing fazes her, but it's just a faҫade.

One day, in the middle of class, Sarah Byrnes just quits. No more talking, no clever responses, no sarcastic quips. Nothing. In her catatonic state, she goes to Sacred Heart's mental facility. Eric visits her every day and soon discovers the truth behind her scars and the reason why she's in the hospital. Her father burned her when she was little and now plans to kill her. Eric wants to save his friend, so he turns to someone he knows he can trust, his favorite teacher and swim coach, Ms. Lemry. Lemry drives Sarah Byrnes to Reno in search of her mother, the only person who can tell the truth about her father and get him locked up for good. Sarah Byrnes's father knows something is up and goes to his daughter's only friend, Eric, for answers. To get those answers, he cuts Eric's face and stabs him in the back. This does not help his case, of course, and after a bit of a tussle, Mr. Byrnes heads to jail and Sarah Byrnes is adopted by Ms. Lemry. Everything is all wrapped up in a nice little package. Convenient, yes? Too convenient? I think so.

Written from Eric's point of view, we see only his side of the story. He's been kept in the dark about his best friend's scars, but still protects her and, honestly, risks his life for her. Not only does he face her father, who is completely crazy, but he also overeats on purpose, which can't be good for his health. This intense friendship is a strength of the book, as are Sarah Byrnes's sarcastic remarks, Eric's jokes, and the antics of Eric's new friend Ellerby. However, in my opinion, it's just too neatly wrapped up in the end. Could it happen that the 17 years and 364 days old Sarah Byrnes is adopted by her school teacher? I suppose. That kind of happened in Matilda, right?

The novel also has a swimming backdrop and in several scenes, Eric tells about the tricks he and Ellerby play on another student, making him swim harder than he has to, but honestly, I didn't understand really any of the swimming scenes, the way the were described was confusing for a non-swimmer, so that could deter others from reading it, once they make it to those parts.

All in all, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes was a good read, especially from chapter 11 or so onward. It would be a good book to share with boys who like sports, but want a more mysterious, story-driven plot instead of just relying on the sports to carry them through. It could be paired with other swimming stories by Chris Crutcher, such as Whale Talk and Stotan!

Janice Del Negro of Booklist (Booklist, Mar. 15, 1993 (Vol. 89, No. 14)) says of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, "Crutcher ties up loose ends and subplots a little too rosily for real life, but his book is satisfying all the same. It's strong on relationships, long on plot, and has enough humor and suspense to make it an easy booktalk with appeal across gender lines." Susie Wilde of Children's Literature says, "Once the story takes hold you move along at such a rapid clip that by the end you're holding on for dear life."

My favorite part of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is the letter that Sarah Byrnes writes to Eric. Here's a portion of it, from page 130:

These kids up here, they act like the toughest kids in the world, just like me, but this is the first time I've ever seen under that toughness--in anybody else or in me. I'm really scared, because if I'm going to have a life, I'm going to have to act different, and I don't know if I can.

Crutcher, Chris. 1993. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 9780688115524