Eric Calhoune’s life takes a change for the better when he joins the high school swim team. He loses a good amount of weight and is beginning to feel better about himself, until something terrible happens. His best friend since childhood, Sarah Byrnes, stops communicating with the outside world and Eric has no idea why.

Sarah has severe burn scars covering her face and both hands, and with the last name of Byrnes, you can just imagine the remarks that have been made over the years. Sarah’s father told everyone that she pulled a pot of boiling water down on herself, but Eric begins to doubt that this is the real story. He has met Sarah’s father, who is one of the meanest looking men on earth and has an attitude to match. Even though, all of this happened to Sarah, she is still the toughest person Eric has ever met. Still, he can’t imagine what caused Sarah to completely check out of her life. Eric has to figure out why before something even worse happens.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is a book that shows how far friendship can go. It covers many difficult and controversial areas of life and Eric discovers people are not always what they seem to be. This book examines different perspectives of many different problems. I recommend this book to anyone interested in seeing past the surface to understand how people cope differently with very difficult situations.