The Main Stuff

Eric Calhoun is a heavy-set swimmer. Eric was getting used to the fact that he would always be a bigger kid. He felt as though he got made fun of a lot but it was not very evident. Eric sees his opportunity to slim down by joining the swim team. He becomes very good at long distance and soon sees results. Although Eric loves his new shape, he is also worried about losing his best friend.

Eric and Sarah Byrnes have been best friends ever since the early school years. When Sarah Byrnes was younger, her abusive father pressed her face and hands up against a hot oven. Sarah Byrnes ended up with plenty of disfigured burns and no hospital treatment. From than on Sarah Byrnes made everyone call her Sarah Byrnes because she knew of the joke that could be made and would be made. Ha ha Sarah Byrnes and burned, that’s not very funny but I think that was very brave of her to point that out to everyone. In her own way she was getting even.

So we have a whale-sized, young boy and a disfigured girl. I can’t see what stops other people from liking them but they only relied on each other. So when Eric starts slimming down from all of his swim practices, but not because of his meets, he is worried that she might not want to be friends anymore. Eric thinks that they were only friends because they were the school outcasts. Eric wants to still be friends but they is the issue that he will become to busy with his new friends to hang out with Sarah Byrnes.

Eric Calhoun: Eric is a very oblivious person. He can’t figure out that Sarah Byrnes likes him and always has. I think that Eric needs to grow up and look at the world around him. Eric finds himself in CAT class sitting back and watching. By the end of the story, Eric is finally taking control of his actions and trying to make a difference in the world.

Sarah Byrnes/Sarah Lemry: Sarah someone is just too complicated. She never shows other people her emotions. Sarah Byrnes is up there just staring into space. She doesn't talk or respond to anything. She likes to be her own person. She tries to make it seem as though she is tough but inside she is really calm. By the end of the book, Sarah Byrnes learns to open up to others and show that she also has feelings.

Setting: The setting is somewhere east of Reno, Nevada. Although, they never say the exact location my best guess is somewhere near Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is pretty obvious that they live in somewhat of a larger suburb. Most of the book takes place in a high school. This makes much sense because of the large amount of topics that are discussed. Most of the issues in Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes include high school students. For example, abuse toward peers, suicide, and abortion.

CAT Class: CAT stands for Contemporary American Thought. In this class that most of the main characters take part of, they talk about important issues and try to share their opinions. In this class, they tackle topics such as; abortion, suicide, and many other issues that would not make most parents happy. I would love to be a part of such a class. I like hearing different ideas and also I like to talk about issues such as those because people always have a difference in opinion.