Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Student Pack by Novel Units, Inc. [Paperback]

Novel Units (Author), Inc. (Author)

Book Description

The packets feature multiple-level reproducibles for direct student use, including activity sheets, quizzes, and a final exam. (This is NOT the paperback novel.)

Product Details

• Paperback: 44 pages
• Publisher: Novel Units, Inc. (March 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581305710
• ISBN-13: 978-1581305715
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,677,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Staying Fat is better than a diet, March 8, 2005

By 

Brittney Lewer (Bak Middle School of the Arts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Student Pack by Novel Units, Inc. (Paperback)

Sarah Byrnes is the ugliest girl in the world. When she was three, she pulled a pot of boiling spaghetti on herself and got burns to match her name. Growing up, she never hesitated to deliver acerbic lashings to taunters who spout the same lame insults as always, which makes it all the more eerie when one ordinary day, Sarah Byrnes stops. She won't speak, move, respond... Nothing. As she's whisked away to Sacred Heart's Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, her only friend, Eric Calhoune, who was as fat as she was ugly, is left wondering how to coax her out of her virtual coma and how she fell into it in the first place.

Eric, who narrates the story, is smart and equipped with an "I was a fat kid" mentality that adds humor and heart to the story. He also harbors an overwhelming need to protect Sarah Byrnes. Sarah Byrnes (as she demands to be called at all times) is tough as nails, but we get to see her vulnerable side through letters and when she finally reopens her mouth. Her former friend Dale couldn't even pass the eighth grade, but when it comes to the real world, he's an Einstein. The shady, scary Virgil Byrnes gives even Bob Ewell of To Kill a Mockingbird a run for his money. Chris Crutcher introduces an impressive array of characters through Eric's school. Eric's friend Steve Ellerby is a preacher's kid, regularly begs Jesus to come swim laps for him at practice, and can carry on deep, philosophical conversations while behind the wheel of the "Christian Cruiser", a customized station wagon that bares blasphemous sayings and blares sick-sounding hymns. His polar opposite, Mark Brittain, routinely preaches to Eric and his classmates that they are going to hell for ignoring the word of God. Mrs. Lemry, Eric's teacher and swimming coach, delivers a dose of blunt honesty, which the book so desperately needs. At the beginning of the book, Eric asks Lemry what will happen if Sarah Byrnes doesn't get better. Her response is not the optimistic "Sarah Byrnes will get better" or even the general "everything will be alright", but the frank "I don't know. I'm not a shrink."

Crutcher does a marvelous job of letting the characters' chemistry buzz around uninhibited, especially in Critical American Thought class. Eric's class at school is basically a forum for discussion on topics like the quality of life, abortion, and religion. Here, all the high school characters get their say, providing us with a myriad of views on hot topics. Crutcher blends and balances each opinion so expertly that I haven't a clue of where he stands. Every page CAT class occupies is one of my favorites. The arguments themselves are strong and mind boggling, among the best I've ever heard. The class debate on abortion alone is reason enough to read Staying Fat.

The plot itself-though I really enjoyed it-is a tad farfetched. You'd hope that when Sarah Byrnes starts talking again, someone, anyone in Sacred Heart would notice. When she hides out at school after busting out of Sacred Heart, you'd think her frantic father would know about it, especially with the totalitarian vice-principle who's been on her case since middle school lurking around. Going off to find her long-lost mother is presented in a believable manner, but in the real world, I highly doubt that it would ever happen.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is a worthwhile read, if only for the chemistry between its characters and side plots. Swallowing the somewhat implausible main storyline is less of a challenge than you'd imagine and the rest of the book more than makes up for it. This compelling novel will make you want to stay fat for Sarah Byrnes too.