Reality at its Worst, in a Good Way

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	• Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher HarperTeen, 2003 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 124 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes

Sarah Byrnes was terribly burned when she was younger, and her only friend, Eric Calhoune, must go to unbelievable lengths to find out the real secret Sarah's been hiding. The only one who knows about Sarah's secret is Eric and Sarah's middle school enemy, Dale Thornton. When Sarah is placed in Sacred Heart Hospital, and isn't talking to anybody, Eric, his high school friends, and their swim coach must make Sarah talk again before her family gets out of control, and her friends get hurt by the one who hurt her in the past.
This story has a mysterious and dark twist to it, along with realistic characters in practical situations. Chris Crutcher creates mind-boggling problems with reactions that will keep the reader turning the pages. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes will give the reader a whole new view on life, and make you think about how people approach others less fortunate than yourself. This is a good book, with a life lesson and a surprising twist. If that's what you're looking for, read Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes.

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Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes is realistic, page turning novel about friendship, truth, and adolescence. Sarah Byrnes is an average teenager...except for the massive scars covering her face, and the dark secret she hides from everyone, including her best friend Eric, an athletic swimmer, who would do anything to keep Sarah's friendship- even if it means remaining an outcast and being slightly overweight to fit in with her. But Eric's about to find out sarah's secret, whether he wants to or not.

This was a touching story about friendship, and the extreme levels a person will go through to remain loyal and true to their friends, no matter how many things stand in their way. Chris Crutcher creates believable characters with well developed personalities that experience real life situations that many teenagers experience themselves. Crutcher's descriptions of his characters, and the way they react to certain situations, are very well written. Combining dark humor, and serious situations, Crutcher has written a loveable story.

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Reality at its Worst, in a Good Way

Reality at its Worst,in a Good Way

Have you ever had to trust someone so much that it means life or death? Well in Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher you'll feel like a huge secret has been placed upon your shoulders.

When Moby , Eric Calhoune, finds out that his best friend Sarah Byrnes has stopped talking he is swarm into a stressful and eventful new life. He goes from threatening phone calls to late night goose chases as Sarah's crazy father tries to find out the whereabouts of his brave and adventurous daughter.

At the beginning of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes it was sort of slow and sleepy and didn't have much action at all, it was in a way hard for me to read. However towards the middle and end there was a ton of stuff going on and it made you want to read on . This book made me realize the enormous amount of pressure that was being but on Eric's back. It came at me as a good book to help inform young teens about suicide, abortion, and the importance of excepting different religions.

One thing that I really liked about Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes was the fact that the relationship between Sarah and Moby was extremely realistic. Many times other authors make the characters to perfect and you can't connect to them at all. One thing that Chris Crutcher did was he made Moby change so much from beginning to end. He went from fat, scaredy cat Moby to brave loyal and (realitively skinny) Eric. His perseverance led to good and bad things. It was good because Sarah's father didn't get what he wanted, but it was bad because someone ended up getting hurt, in more than one way.

No one under 6th grade should read this book because it has some very strong, heavy, and disturbing topics that may be too overwhelming for young children. Inappropriate language is also used at several times.

Overall Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes was an eye-opening book and really made me think.

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Amazing!

This book was simply amazing. The plot developed nicely, and the exciting parts had me gasping and my heart racing!

I hated the bad character, and loved the good guys.

I had to read this for Language Arts and am very glad I did.

But, there is some language in here, and some scenes that people may call "graphic".

A wonderful, wonderful book!

Jessica from SJS writes

I gave Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes a rating of three stars out of five stars. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes has a riveting story about a high school senior, Eric Calhoune, and his quest to help his friend, Sarah Byrnes, escape her evil father. Sarah was badly burned when she was young, so not many people want to befriend her. Sarah's burns, the fact that she was in a mental ward for not speaking, and controversial topics like suicide and abortion have earned Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes the Joan Fassler Memorial award. The award is for books that are medically related and for the young adult reader. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes definitely deserved the award, but did not deserve all of my stars. Although Chris Crutcher has a wonderful plot and many suspenseful scenes in his book, his writing had great potential to become more eloquent. Chris Crutcher told the story through the protagonist, Eric Calhoune, who gave a first person account of the story throughout the book. It was an original idea for Chris Crutcher to have written his story from a high schooler's perspective; however, doing so made the some parts of the story very boring to read. Although I enjoyed the suspense, I found the subject matter to be disturbing. In my opinion the book would be better suited for young adults and adults who want a revolutionary and moving story.

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