Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

Bibliography

Crutcher, Chris. 1993. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York, NY: Greenwillow. ISBN 9780062687746.

Plot Summary

17-year old Sarah Byrnes only answers to her full name due to the irony of her facial burn scars, which came from alleged accident in which she pulled a boiling pot of spaghetti on top of her. She has only ever had two real friends, Eric Calhoun, and Dale Thornton, both of whom she has known since middle school. In this book Eric tells of his friendship with Sarah, who is in a catatonic state in the mental hospital. Eric is so loyal to Sarah that when he joined the swim team in high school, he tried to stay "fat" as a way to show her that he would not get popular and forget about her. He visits her every day in the hospital and eventually finds out that she is not catatonic but needed a break from her abusive father, and he also found out that her scars were caused by her father's abuse. After Eric and his teacher Mrs. Lemry help Sarah escape from the hospital, he is attacked by Mr. Byrnes, who desperately wants to have his daughter back. Dale helps Eric get medical help, and the manhunt for Virgil Byrnes begins. Eric's mother's boyfriend Carver ends up taking the matter in his own hands, finds Virgil at home, and beats him, although mainly in self-defense. Virgil is arrested, Eric ends up with a father figure, and Mrs. Lemry and her husband adopt Sarah.

Critical Analysis

This timeless novel examines true friendship among other big issues such as child abuse, suicide, religion, and abortion. Mrs. Lemry's Contemporary American Thought class serves as a forum for many of these discussions, which is where many of the heated conversations about these topics take place. We learn much about the pressures that teens like Mark Brittain face to be a perfect Christian; he leaves himself no room for error, partially due to the high expectations held by the adults in his life. When he makes very human yet mistakes that fall outside the lines of his religious beliefs, he lies about it, then tries to commit suicide after his lies are exposed. Mark shows tremendous growth in his recovery and realizes that he is only human and set too high of a standard for himself.

Sarah also considered suicide yet does not attempt it. She is forever tormented by her scars and by her father, from whom she escapes by faking her catatonic state. While in the hospital she realizes she is not the only person who suffers like she does, it's just that her scars are on the outside, and many others have their scars on the inside. She realizes that so many other teens have it worse off than her, and she wants to change and take down some of the walls she has put up to deal with her disfigurement.

Crutcher depicts true friendship through Eric. He and Sarah are a couple of outsiders: the fat kid and the burn victim. They stick together through high school, and to prove that Eric will be there for her always, he tries to stay fat after joining the swim team to assure her that he won't become popular and leave her. Their platonic friendship is full of realism, and they never pretend that her scars aren't really that bad or that he's not really that overweight. For most of their friendship Eric keeps every secret Sarah threatens him over, but when it comes to her and her father, he knows he must betray her trust in order

to help her, and he brings Mrs. Lemry into the circle. Eric truly transitions into adulthood to save his friend.

Review Excerpts

2000 Margaret A. Edwards Award Winner

Voice of Youth Advocates 8/1/1993 by Susan R. Farber "Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is more tightly plotted than his earlier YA novels, yet it also allows a full, complete character development of the teen protagonists in related subplots. This is Crutcher's darkest and most riveting work to date, almost entirely unrelieved by any humor. Older YAs are likely to read this in one sitting, and then will be left thinking about it for weeks afterward. Perhaps it will jar some into considering that many teens, maybe their own classmates, are just like Sarah Byrnes, except that they carry their horrifying burns inside of them."

Publishers Weekly 3/29/1993 "Superb plotting, extraordinary characters and crackling narrative make this novel one to be devoured in a single unforgettable sitting."

Connections

Readers may also enjoy Chris Crutcher's Whale Talk, ISBN 9780062687753, which is about an adopted teen who starts a swim team of misfits at his school or John Corey Whaley's Highly Illogical Behavior about friends helping each other through a disability (agoraphobia), ISBN 9780147515209.