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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
2018 update: This was one of the first Crutcher books I read in 2006, as I was creating my idea of his work...his mission. THIS reading was one of revisiting, of savoring, of recognizing those patterns I love so much...and a line I rushed right by hit me like a ton of bricks: "Boy, ain't it a trip where heroes come from?" THIS. This is the essence of his books. Heroes rise. Families create themselves. Bonds are strengthened. Lives are saved.
Eric (Moby) has learned the self defence many bright but different kids have learned -- that snarky, smart mouth to deflect. For him, it's to deflect jokes about his size. His roundness. For Sarah Byrnes, it's to deflect from the horror of her face. The burns she has worn since she was a toddler. They are a team...until Moby discovers swimming, but he hangs onto his blubber so Sarah Byrnes doesn't feel as if her only friend abandons her.
Unlikely alliances, secrets that must be told, and heroes. And as always, Crutcher's youngsters stand up against adults who fear their independence, and rely on those who have their safety at heart.
Sarah Byrnes is one of those characters who grabs hold of you and makes you face what are the depths and the heights of the human spirit. She's stayed with me all these years and revisiting her made my heart sing.
I know Crutcher just spent time at MS Douglas High School last week, and his words ring: "Boy, ain't it a trip where heroes come from?"
Eric and Sarah Byrnes (don't call her 'Sarah') are an amazing team. Like all Crutcher books, the kids solve their own problems without adults intervening. Eric is courageous, opinionated, and verbal...like all Crutcher's boys. Sarah is so strong...I love them both.
Eric (Moby) has learned the self defence many bright but different kids have learned -- that snarky, smart mouth to deflect. For him, it's to deflect jokes about his size. His roundness. For Sarah Byrnes, it's to deflect from the horror of her face. The burns she has worn since she was a toddler. They are a team...until Moby discovers swimming, but he hangs onto his blubber so Sarah Byrnes doesn't feel as if her only friend abandons her.
Unlikely alliances, secrets that must be told, and heroes. And as always, Crutcher's youngsters stand up against adults who fear their independence, and rely on those who have their safety at heart.
Sarah Byrnes is one of those characters who grabs hold of you and makes you face what are the depths and the heights of the human spirit. She's stayed with me all these years and revisiting her made my heart sing.
I know Crutcher just spent time at MS Douglas High School last week, and his words ring: "Boy, ain't it a trip where heroes come from?"
Eric and Sarah Byrnes (don't call her 'Sarah') are an amazing team. Like all Crutcher books, the kids solve their own problems without adults intervening. Eric is courageous, opinionated, and verbal...like all Crutcher's boys. Sarah is so strong...I love them both.
I love that this book is set in high school but there aren't the stereotypical social circles. Some really great questions about religion, abuse, and abortion are raised. And along with all of this, it's a great story about friendship and healing.
How far would you go to save your best friend?
Eric lost weight once he joined the high school swim team (though he is still referred to as a whale, his nickname even being Moby) but Sarah Byrnes still has her scars. Their mutual ugliness had sealed their friendship when they were younger, though Eric's weight loss has left them shaky they remain close...Until the day Sarah Byrnes stops talking. Now she's locked up in a psych ward and it's up to Eric to put together her secrets.
This book was very heartfelt and genuine. Now one look at my shelves will tell you SF/F is my bread and butter so don't get me wrong when I say this but sometimes the emotions in those stories are a bit overblown. Arguably that's justifiable, the scale of those books is so large. (Save humanity/ the world / the UNIVERSE) So every now and again it's nice to read something smaller, more ordinary and intimate and understated. This is a book about growing up, devotion, understanding and mostly courage in all its many faces. I will warn there are some descriptions of abuse that may be triggering for some.
Overall a good read, highly recommended.
Eric lost weight once he joined the high school swim team (though he is still referred to as a whale, his nickname even being Moby) but Sarah Byrnes still has her scars. Their mutual ugliness had sealed their friendship when they were younger, though Eric's weight loss has left them shaky they remain close...Until the day Sarah Byrnes stops talking. Now she's locked up in a psych ward and it's up to Eric to put together her secrets.
This book was very heartfelt and genuine. Now one look at my shelves will tell you SF/F is my bread and butter so don't get me wrong when I say this but sometimes the emotions in those stories are a bit overblown. Arguably that's justifiable, the scale of those books is so large. (Save humanity/ the world / the UNIVERSE) So every now and again it's nice to read something smaller, more ordinary and intimate and understated. This is a book about growing up, devotion, understanding and mostly courage in all its many faces. I will warn there are some descriptions of abuse that may be triggering for some.
Overall a good read, highly recommended.
Wow.
I read this because another ELA teacher, grade 10 at another school, requires that her students read this. It was highly recommended by her years ago, and I found a copy and remembered. I wasn't hooked right away, and there was almost enough swimming/sport focus to ruin it, but there was enough drama to keep me interested. Eventually, there was no putting this down. We have intelligent male characters with great adult role models, much like John Green usually provides. Intelligent banter, intellectual discussions with inspiring teachers....this book was just right for this liberal who wants to live in a bubble. Serious issues were handled well, and it was genuinely exciting and thought-provoking. I highly recommend to "teens who care." Extremely satisfying.
I read this because another ELA teacher, grade 10 at another school, requires that her students read this. It was highly recommended by her years ago, and I found a copy and remembered. I wasn't hooked right away, and there was almost enough swimming/sport focus to ruin it, but there was enough drama to keep me interested. Eventually, there was no putting this down. We have intelligent male characters with great adult role models, much like John Green usually provides. Intelligent banter, intellectual discussions with inspiring teachers....this book was just right for this liberal who wants to live in a bubble. Serious issues were handled well, and it was genuinely exciting and thought-provoking. I highly recommend to "teens who care." Extremely satisfying.
TW: abuse, fat shaming
Another old read I picked up recently (from the same YA Lit professor who gave me Cut) is Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher which came out in 1993. I didn’t read the synopsis before picking up this book so I really had no idea what it was about other than the small clues one can glean from the title. I’d just heard a lot about it throughout my life and decided now was the time to finally get to reading.
Most of the books I read are newer YA novels. I pick up classics, memoirs, poetry etc. every once in a while but YA novels from 2008ish-present are what I’d like to claim as my “area of expertise.” Therefore, I’m not really sure how to review Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes or compare it to other books I’ve read. It’s still definitely a YA novel, but it almost seems like a different genre than many of the books that come out today. There’s also the issue of how negatively people viewed (and still view but at a lesser extent) fat people. All of that being said, there are quite a few things I deeply appreciated about this book:
1) the main character took back the word fat and embraced his classmates calling him Moby as a compliment. That speaks volumes for teaching people to love and accept themselves as they are as well as the power behind taking back negative or derogatory terms. Sarah Byrnes did the same by embracing the irony of her last name.
2) The fat kid was an athlete, and a good one at that. This lost a bit of its merit when he started losing weight, but he was still bigger than the average swimmer. I love how this character proves that fat people can be fit and healthy athletes.
3) the book deals with serious, real world issues such as abuse, bullying, abortion and religion that young people deal with and need to understand they aren’t alone in experiencing.
Overall, I think Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is a revolutionary novel ahead of its time. It encourages teenagers to think critically and question their values in complex situations and it doesn’t degrade teenagers or lead them to believe they are incapable of understanding “the real world.” Don’t be turned off by how old it is.
Another old read I picked up recently (from the same YA Lit professor who gave me Cut) is Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher which came out in 1993. I didn’t read the synopsis before picking up this book so I really had no idea what it was about other than the small clues one can glean from the title. I’d just heard a lot about it throughout my life and decided now was the time to finally get to reading.
Most of the books I read are newer YA novels. I pick up classics, memoirs, poetry etc. every once in a while but YA novels from 2008ish-present are what I’d like to claim as my “area of expertise.” Therefore, I’m not really sure how to review Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes or compare it to other books I’ve read. It’s still definitely a YA novel, but it almost seems like a different genre than many of the books that come out today. There’s also the issue of how negatively people viewed (and still view but at a lesser extent) fat people. All of that being said, there are quite a few things I deeply appreciated about this book:
1) the main character took back the word fat and embraced his classmates calling him Moby as a compliment. That speaks volumes for teaching people to love and accept themselves as they are as well as the power behind taking back negative or derogatory terms. Sarah Byrnes did the same by embracing the irony of her last name.
2) The fat kid was an athlete, and a good one at that. This lost a bit of its merit when he started losing weight, but he was still bigger than the average swimmer. I love how this character proves that fat people can be fit and healthy athletes.
3) the book deals with serious, real world issues such as abuse, bullying, abortion and religion that young people deal with and need to understand they aren’t alone in experiencing.
Overall, I think Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is a revolutionary novel ahead of its time. It encourages teenagers to think critically and question their values in complex situations and it doesn’t degrade teenagers or lead them to believe they are incapable of understanding “the real world.” Don’t be turned off by how old it is.
I raed this in less than a day. And lest you think I have nothing better to do than read, I'll iterate that I have a full time job, go to college, have looming final exams, bowl in two leagues per week, and am on a committee.
So, that being said, this book was so good that I managed to complete it in less that 24 hours. (E-books are great for reading while walking, using the facilities, waiting in cars, etc.)
No spoilers but let me just caution you to look past the official blurb of this book and take the chance of discovering things way deeper within its pages.
So, that being said, this book was so good that I managed to complete it in less that 24 hours. (E-books are great for reading while walking, using the facilities, waiting in cars, etc.)
No spoilers but let me just caution you to look past the official blurb of this book and take the chance of discovering things way deeper within its pages.
This book touched on a lot of different topics from bullying, religion, social acceptance, social issues, child abuse, etc. It also showed that no matter what a person looks like on the outside, the inside is where the scars and beauty are hidden.
I'm surprised by how much I loved this book. I began reading it last night and was all set to DNF it this morning because I was bored by the storytelling and the sports-heavy portions made it worse. However, I gave it another shot and couldn't put it down afterward.
The realness of the characters, their complexity, and humanness kept me in. It dealt with timely issues that concern the youth. It didn't sugarcoat. It was raw in a way that got you thinking.
It made me assess my own beliefs. It made me understand better where other people were coming from. Why it can be so hard for them to do something that seems so easy to me.
Honestly, I was discouraged by the rating of this book and that the beginning didn't hook me, but I'm glad I let it reel me in eventually.
The realness of the characters, their complexity, and humanness kept me in. It dealt with timely issues that concern the youth. It didn't sugarcoat. It was raw in a way that got you thinking.
It made me assess my own beliefs. It made me understand better where other people were coming from. Why it can be so hard for them to do something that seems so easy to me.
Honestly, I was discouraged by the rating of this book and that the beginning didn't hook me, but I'm glad I let it reel me in eventually.
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes