Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes

Crutcher, C. (1993). Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York, N.Y.: Greenwillow Books.

Eric is an overweight swimmer. Despite his size, he is able to hold his own against the better swimmers.  His best friend is Sarah Byrnes, who is currently in the hospital.  Sarah refuses to speak.  No one, including Eric, knows why she stopped speaking.  Sarah has horrible burn scars all over face.  The story is that she reached for a pot of hot water when she was 3. Eric has always doubted that story, but never asks Sarah.  Sarah finally tells the truth. Her father is an awful mom who caused the burns on her face and still abuses her often.  Eric and his swim coach try to help by tracking down
Sarah's mother. She is no help.  Sarah's father attacks Eric in anger because he wants to find his daughter. He is arrested and Sarah is adopted my Ms. Lemry.
I would recommend this book for grades 7 and above.
This would be a great book to discuss outcasts and students with physical differences.
Students will see that there are sometimes reasons that students keep to themselves.  Sometimes,
they need friends to confide in.