| Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Chris Crutcher |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Greenwillow Books |
| Publication date | 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp |
| ISBN | 0-06-009489-3 |
| OCLC Number | 51946831 |
Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes is a young-adult fiction novel by Chris Crutcher. It has been recognized by the American Library Association as a "Best of the Best Books for Young Adults".[1] It is also one of fifty books on Young Adult Library Services Association's The Ultimate Teen Bookshelf.
From the back of the 2003 Harper Teen edition:
Sarah Byrnes and Eric have been friends for years. When they were children, his fat and her terrible scars made them both outcasts. Later, although swimming slimmed Eric, she stayed his closest friend. Now Sarah Byrnes — the smartest, toughest person Eric has ever known — sits silent in a hospital. Eric must uncover the terrible secret she's hiding, before its dark currents pull them both under.[2]
Contents |
Eric “Moby” Calhoune’s best friend Sarah Byrnes is catatonic, sitting in the mental ward of Sacred Heart Hospital. The staff there suggests that he recall some moments that may jog her memory and bring her out of her catatonic state and back to reality. Eric and Sarah Byrnes (who insists on being called Sarah Byrnes, rather than just Sarah) have been friends for a long time, originally because he was extremely overweight and she was severely burned as a child leaving her with scars on her hands and face. They were picked on regularly and began to write an underground newspaper called Crispy Pork Rinds, focusing an article on the bully Dale Thornton. After the ensuing events, they recruited Dale as “protection”, and their lives became a bit easier. Eric is recruited to the swim team, and as he improves in skill his weight decreases. Out of fear of losing his friend Sarah Byrnes, he continues to eat, even more excessively, so he can “stay fat for Sarah Byrnes”. Eric’s search for a “cure” to Sarah Byrnes’s catatonia, leads him to seek out Dale Thornton, and Eric learns that she had an abusive father and that the facial scarring was no accident.
Shortly after being confronted with this information, Sarah Byrnes begins speaking to Eric, and he discovers that her catatonia has been a ruse, and that she is terrified that her father, who has been declining into further mental illness, is going to kill her. She has been hiding out in the hospital because it is the only place she feels safe from him. But Virgil Byrnes appears to be on to Sarah, and time is running out. Confused as to what to do, Eric reveals all to his teacher and swim coach, Ms. Lemry. She hatches a plan to hide Sarah Byrnes in the apartment above her garage. Ms. Lemry teaches the Contemporary American Thought (CAT) class which includes discussions on abortion, suicide, religion, body image, social justice, and many other topics. Through these moments, Eric, Steve Ellerby, Jody Mueller, and Mark Brittain (fellow classmates with conflicting views), develop and explore their personal views on these issues.
During the course of this class, Mark is confronted with the truth of his actions—that he encouraged Jody to have an abortion—and he has difficulty reconciling his actions with his beliefs and later attempts suicide. Ms. Lemry agrees to take Sarah Byrnes to Reno to look for her mother, who is the only witness to the abuse Sarah has suffered at the hands of her father. While they are gone, Virgil Byrnes hunts down Eric after school and threatens to kill him, and eventually stabs him in the back. Eric makes his way to Dale Thornton’s house where he passes out, and Dale and his father rescue him and take him to the hospital. Sarah attempts to run away because she doesn’t want any more of her friends to get hurt, but Eric and Ms. Lemry stop her. Eric’s mother’s boyfriend Carver Middleton (former Vietnam Special Forces soldier) figures out that Virgil Byrnes must be hiding out in his house and lays a trap for him, capturing him after a brief struggle.
Eric “Moby” Calhoune: Narrator. Eric has always struggled with his weight, earning him the nickname “Moby” and the status of outcast. He earned the nickname Moby because he is able to stay under water for a long time, like a whale with it's blow hole. He is best friends with fellow outcast Sarah Byrnes whose facial scarring caused her social problems. Eric is recruited by the swim coach, he begins to lose weight, and he fears that Sarah Byrnes will not remain friends with him if he is no longer fat.
Sarah Byrnes: Extreme facial and hand scarring resulted in her being a social outcast, and she has a somewhat bitter outlook on life. She becomes mute and catatonic in an honors class one day, apparently for no reason. It is discovered that she is afraid her father, Virgil Byrnes, is going to continue to physically abuse her as he has in the past.
Steve Ellerby: Ellerby is Eric’s best male friend and a teammate on the swim team. His Christian cruiser shows blasphemy toward his dad and religion.
Dale Thornton: A bully that ironically ends up befriending Eric Calhoune and Sarah Byrnes because of his somewhat outcast status as someone who struggled in school and eventually dropped out.
Mark Brittain: Fellow team member and classmate, Mark is somewhat of a foil for Eric and Ellerby. Ellerby is the most self-actualized, Eric is in the process, but Mark’s rigid home life leads him to be easily goaded and often has his beliefs called into question. Mark attempts suicide after being unable to reconcile his beliefs with his actions.
Jody Mueller: Girlfriend of Mark Brittain originally, he convinces her to have an abortion the previous year, and then blames her for their actions as a couple. She somewhat feels the outcast stigma (internally at least as the abortion is a secret), and she befriends and begins dating Eric.
Ms. Cynthia Ellen Lemry: Swim team coach and teacher of the controversial class Contemporary American Thought. All characters (with the exception of Dale Thornton) are members of the class. Ms. Lemry is Eric’s mentor, and he goes to her when the problems with Sarah Byrnes surface. Eventually, Ms. Lemry adopts Sarah Byrnes.
Virgil Byrnes: Sarah Byrnes’s father. Virgil Byrnes is a violent and mentally unstable man who physically abused Sarah Byrnes when she was a child.
Carver Middleton: Eric's mother's boyfriend, who was a Vietnam War Veteran.
Mr. Mautz: The vice principal of Eric's school. He has a huge problem with "Crispy Pork Rinds".
Crutcher dedicates the novel "For all those who finally stand up for themselves." Every major character in the novel develops a more concrete understanding of themselves and their fellow classmates by coming to understand that they are more than a few characteristics. Crutcher also says though Carver Middleton, "Taking on someone else's monsters will kill you." [3] Body image is also thematically important. Sarah Byrnes and Eric Calhoune both have physical issues that cause people to see them differently, but they also see themselves negatively; by the end of the text, this view is proved to be erroneous. Other themes are friendship and trust. Sarah admits that she never fully trusted Eric, but learns to do so by giving him a very personal letter. Friendships were also made between Sarah Byrnes and Dale Thornton, and between Eric and Mark Brittain.
Rather than attempt to restrict public schools from requiring the book, some parents concerned about religious biases in public school teaching respond by authoring similar realistic fiction that presents reverse biases.[7]