“Once again, Chris Crutcher plunges his readers into life's tough issues within a compelling story filled with human compassion. Will appeal to fans of Marieke Nijkamp, Andrew Smith, and John Corey Whaley. Eric must uncover the terrible secret she’s hiding before its dark current pulls them both under. Now Sarah Byrnes-the smartest, toughest person Eric has ever known-sits silent in a hospital. When they were children, his weight and her scars made them both outcasts. Sarah Byrnes and Eric Calhoune have been friends for years. “Superb plotting, extraordinary characters, and cracking narrative make this novel unforgettable.”- Publishers Weekly This bestselling novel is about love, loyalty, and friendship in the face of adversity. It is the weakest part of the story and I really wish it were flushed out better.Called a “masterpiece” in a starred review from School Library Journal, award-winning author Chris Crutcher’s acclaimed Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is an enduring classic. Their motives for being nasty just aren’t there. The emotional elements are very real, but most of the bullies and abusers are just stock bad guys. but sadly, this hypocrisy is never called out, Crutcher seams to treat it as Christianity as a whole. I wanted to see a REAL Christian come in and lecture them on being “A pit of vipers” as Jesus would say.
As a young teen, this was the first time I was exposed to just how the world often sees Christians. I’m a Christian myself, and it hurt to see the way we were portrayed. This is televangelist Christianity, not real believers. While religion is a theme, it’s more about religious people being hypocritical, religion itself is not really debated. Eric takes a American Thought class were they discuss issues like abortion, suicide, body image, and social justice, you know all thing things you actually CAN’T discuss in a modern American high school. This is a story that deals with a lot of hard issues. Can Eric figure out what’s going on, or will Sarah Byrnes, burn out? He even has a girlfriend now! Just as Eric’s life is starting to get on track, Sarah seams to be spiraling out of control. When Eric joined the swim team, he started making more friends, and loosing some weight. Together they were the outcasts in school. Growing up, Eric was “the fat kid” and Sarah was “the ugly kid”, her face was burned in a childhood accident.
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