Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes

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Title Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Author	Chris Crutcher
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject(s)	teen issues
Genre(s)	young adult, fiction
Publisher	Harper Collins
Released	1993
Pages	304
Size and weight	6.4oz
ISBN	ISBN 0-06-009489-3

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes is a coming of age novel by young adult writer Chris Crutcher. The book was well received, including being noted by the American Library Association as a "Best Book for Young Adults" and winning the California Young Reader Medal.^[1][2] A parent in the Westmoreland, New York, school district unsuccessfully attempted to have the book removed from the ninth-grade curriculum because of its language.^[3]

Contents 1 Book information 2 Characters 3 Plot 3.1 Plot Orientation 3.2 The Beginning 3.3 The Conflict 3.4 The Resolution 4 ISBN's 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Book information

The book's plot addresses different moral and religious issues that teenagers often face.^[4] Kay Vadergrift, a professor at Rutgers University, also cites the book as one of the 100 most important young adult novels,^[5] citing an article by Carol Jones Collins that states that the book demonstrates the power of young adult relationships.^[6]

A movie adaptation is in development through the Riverrock Entertainment Group.^[7]

The book also made an appearance in the comic book Teen Titans where writer Geoff Johns references a character named Mia, who is HIV positive. Mia is the protégé of the hero Green Arrow and states that one of her favorite books is Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes.^[8]

[edit] Characters

• Eric "Moby" Calhoune, the narrator and protagonist, is a high school senior, whose obesity makes him a social outcast. He pledges to stay fat for Sarah Byrnes, an outcast due to her scarred appearance, in order to maintain their friendship. Eric matures throughout the story.

• Ms. Lemry is a supportive, caring teacher. Lemry is also Eric's swimming coach. Lemry offers a class for Seniors, (including Eric), to discuss deep contemporary issues.

• Sarah Byrnes was badly burned by what she describes as a childhood accident. Abandoned by her mother, she is left to live with her father who refuses to allow reconstructive surgery. Her scars become a shield to hide her true feelings.

• Mr. Mautz is the vice principal whom Eric believes to have an animus toward him, Sarah, and Dale Thornton. Mautz is concerned that "important Christian values are being trashed" by Ms. Lemry^[9] and opines that church and state belong together "more than we've allowed them to be in the last couple of decades"^[10]

• Dale Thornton is a bully who lives in the "bad" part of town and was held back in school many times. Once an enemy of Eric and Sarah, he becomes their ally.

• Virgil Byrnes, Sarah's manipulative and abusive father.

[edit] Plot

[edit] Plot Orientation

The story begins with an introduction by the narrator, Eric Calhoune, who is nicknamed Moby. Moby uses the first few chapters to introduce his friend Sarah Byrnes, explain his school life, including the swim team, and build the foundation for his and Sarah Byrnes' story. Both Eric and Sarah have faced trials and tribulations throughout their youth. Sarah Byrnes lives with her abusive father; her mother left after Sarah’s face/hands/arms were burned at a very young age. As a result of the scaring, as as a defensive action, Sarah insists that people refer to her as “Sarah Byrnes” though some call her 'Scarface'. Moby lives alone with his liberal mother. His father, a professor, left before Eric's birth. Moby was very overweight until he joined the swim team in high school, although he continued to overeat to prove his friendship with Byrnes.

[edit] The Beginning

In middle school the friends create a newspaper entitled "Crispy Pork Rinds." The paper is ironic because the very person they make fun of, Dale Thornton, becomes an ally of Sarah Byrnes and eventually Moby. Dale, like Sarah Byrnes and Moby is an outcast. He is the school bully who had spent many years in eighth grade. An article in Crispy Pork Rinds points fun at Dale’s intelligence, and the vice-principal (Mr. Mautz) does not take this well. As a result, Sarah Byrnes and Moby team up with Dale to get back at the vice-principal.

[edit] The Conflict

Moby then brings the readers up to present day where we find that Sarah Byrnes is in a mental hospital refusing to speak. With Moby’s dedication to the friendship, he visits Sarah Byrnes daily. Since Sarah refuses to talk Moby must delve into Sarah Byrnes' past to discover why she is not talking. Moby uses Sarah Byrnes' friendship with Dale to find out that her father purposefully burned her. When Moby confronts her with the truth, she stops speaking to anyone else, for fear that she will be forced to leave the hospital. Sarah Byrnes recognizes her father’s abusiveness is reaching the extreme and forces Moby to swear to secrecy.

[edit] The Resolution

Moby uses his close confidence in his teacher and swim coach, Ms. Lemry, to get security for Sarah Byrnes and “break” Sarah Byrnes out of the hospital to hide her at the Lemry's home. The decision is made that Sarah Byrnes' mother is the only one who can confirm the father is abusive. Sarah Byrnes and Lemry travel to Reno Nevada, where they find the mother who refuses to return. Despite this set-back, Sarah Byrnes displays her strength and courage by returning home to find people are fighting for her. The story ends with the father being accosted by an unexpected hero. In the epilogue, Sarah Byrnes is adopted by Lemry, and Moby concludes the narrative with plans for the future. The author ties all the characters together with his last statement, “Boy, ain’t it a trip where heroes come from”^[11].

[edit] ISBN's

• ISBN 0-06-009489-3 (paperback, March 2003)
• ISBN 0-688-11552-7 (hardbound, April 1993)
• ISBN 1-58130-571-0 (hardbound, March 2000)
• ISBN 0-606-28453-2 (paperback, 1988)

[edit] External links

• About Crutcher.
• Discussion Guide.
• Harper Collins: Teaching Challenged and Banned Books.

[edit] References