Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

by Chris Crutcher

Sarah Byrnes and Eric Calhoune might be friends, or they might just be fellow outcasts. Sarah Byrnes is always Sarah Byrnes. Her facial scars from being burned as a toddler are things that she owns. If she is always Sarah Byrnes, then people can't take her name and turn it against her.

Eric Calhoune has been known as Moby for years. He's the whale of the swim team. He's fast and dangerous in the water, but trusts Sarah Byrnes to be there for him outside of the pool. She (and her attitude) scare everyone so Eric follows her and she trusts him.

When Sarah Byrnes ends up in the state hospital under psychiatric watch, only Eric knows the truth. While he waits for her to return, Eric must also deal with the people around him, including Sarah Brynes's scary father, an angry vice principal, and a Bible-thumping peer who judges everyone around him.

All Eric wants to do is date the Bible-thumper's girlfriend and win the next meet, but nothing will ever be that simple.

Final thought: I know this one is well-rated and received, but I'm just not getting it. There is just too much going on and it's far too messy. Granted, life is messy, but this book can be very hard to follow. There are extremely detailed descriptions going on for pages about the swim team practices and then barely anything when there is actual stuff happening outside of the pool. Things happen in the blink of an eye for some events and then drag on forever for others.

Rating: 3/5