Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Before there were YA novels like Looking for Alaska and Thirteen Reasons Why, Chris Crutcher's Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes was the original tear-jerker. If you're a fan of John Green, Sarah Dessen, Jay Asher, Ellen Hopkins, or Ned Vizinni, then this novel may peak your interest. 

Moby, a high school senior, is the eyes and ears of this novel. He and Sarah Byrnes became best friends during junior high. Moby was getting made fun of for being overweight, and Sarah came to his rescue. Sarah, who prefers to be called by her full name, Sarah Byrnes, also got made fun of as a child for the burns she had received at the age of three. They made her face look deformed and she was, of course, very sensitive about it, but she hid behind layers of sarcasm and lacked emotion. 

The reason she wished to be called by her full name is obvious. People would meet her, see the burns on her face, find out her name was Byrnes, and point it out to her as if she didn't already know. So think of her as a celebrity, you always call celebrities by their first and last names...provided they have a last name. (Prince is not a good example of this.) Think of Kate Winslet, Zach Braff, Jason Bateman, Keira Knightley, Jimmy Fallon, etc. Do we ever just call them Kate or Jimmy? No. 

When Sarah Byrnes and Moby make it to high school, Moby joins the swim team and begins to lose weight. However, he is afraid that if he does lose weight he will also lose Sarah Byrnes. After all, his weight is what brought them together in the first place. So he begins to eat twice as much as he used to, garnering the name Moby, because he is the "whale" of the swim team. Sarah Byrnes resents him for not losing weight, but the way Crutcher writes about this, I can tell she is also touched that he cares that much about their friendship.

One day, during class, the bell rings for everyone to be dismissed, but Sarah Byrnes doesn't get up. When the teachers try to speak to her she refuses to answer. In fact, she won't talk at all. So she is admitted to the psych ward of a hospital. During this time, Moby has to find out if her "psychotic break" is real or fake. With the help of Sarah's friend Dale, Moby's swim coach Ms. Lemry, and some unexpected friends and foes, Moby finds out the truth about Sarah Byrnes. But, can they both handle that truth?

Crutcher really hit a homerun with this novel. It was actually my ninth grade English teacher that introduced me to this novel. She was retiring that year and she had decided that each class would get one random book to read that none of the other classes got to. She gave my class Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes because she thought we would enjoy it the most. And we did.

It was my first look at YA novels of this type. It lead me to read Just Listen, Burned, Choke, etc. You could say it was my "gateway book." It's topic is not one to be dealt with lightly. It is very real; with illness, abuse, religion and abortion at its forefront. Still, Crutcher manages to make the topic understandable and just an all around good read! Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes gives its readers hope, and that's exactly what Crutcher aims for. In fact, his dedication page is: "For all those who finally stand up for themselves." 

I give this novel 5/5 stars.

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