Recommendations based on Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnesby Chris Crutcher

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Deadline

    by Chris Crutcher
    High school senior Ben Wolf has only one year to live, but he's determined to make the most of it by uncovering a dark secret in his small town.

    Ben Wolf is an 18-year-old high school student from Trout, Idaho. He lives with his father, his mother, who is mentally ill, and his younger brother, Cody, who is a superb football player and attends ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging

    by Louise Rennison
    A comedic coming-of-age story of a teenage girl, navigating the ups and downs of teenage life.

    Georgia, a teenager, lives with her mother, father, 3-year-old sister Libby, and her wild cat, Angus, whom the family found on a holiday to Scotland. Georgia bumps into the popular and attractive ... (Wikipedia)

  3. Code Name Verity

    by Elizabeth Wein
    Two female spies' harrowing mission during WWII and the secrets they discover.

    In 1943 Nazi-occupied France, a British Lysander spy plane crashes in the fictional town of Ormaie. On board are two best friends, a pilot (Maddie, code name: Kittyhawk) and a spy (Julie, code name: ... (Wikipedia)

  4. I Am the Messenger

    by Markus Zusak
    An unassuming young man is unexpectedly thrust into a journey of redemption and courage.

    During a visit to the bank, the protagonist Ed Kennedy, a nineteen-year-old Australian taxi driver, accidentally foils a robbery. After speaking to the police, he is interviewed by local media and ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Make Lemonade

    by Virginia Euwer Wolff
    A teenage mother takes a job cleaning for a writer and learns to make the best of her situation.

    An award-winning novel about growing up and making choices, Virginia Euwer Wolff's groundbreaking novel, written in free verse, tells the story of fourteen-year-old LaVaughn, who is determined to go ... (Goodreads)

  6. Sabriel

    by Garth Nix
    A young woman embarks on a quest to save her kingdom from an ancient evil, confronting her own mortality.

    The book opens with Sabriel raising a freshly killed rabbit from death. She is a young girl attending Wyverly College, an all-female boarding school in Ancelstierre. An undead creature enters the ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Gods in Alabama

    by Joshilyn Jackson
    A woman's journey of self-discovery, facing her ghosts while unearthing her family secrets.

    For 10 years Arlene has kept her promises, and God has kept His end of the bargain. Until now. When an old schoolmate from Possett turns up at Arlene's door in Chicago asking questions about Jim ... (Goodreads)

  8. Keturah and Lord Death

    by Martine Leavitt
    A young woman's quest to find true love by outsmarting Death himself.

    Martine Leavitt offers a spellbinding story, interweaving elements of classic fantasy and high romance in this National Book Award Finalist. Keturah follows a legendary hart into the king's forest, ... (Goodreads)

  9. The Chocolate War

    by Robert Cormier
    A boy's struggle against an oppressive school environment, where he must decide between conformity or standing up for what's right.

    Jerry is a freshman attending an all-boys Catholic high school called Trinity, while coping with depressive feelings and existential questions that stem largely from his mother's recent death and his ... (Wikipedia)

  10. Fer-de-Lance

    by Rex Stout
    Detective Nero Wolfe investigates the murder of a college president, uncovering a web of deceit and corruption.

    Maria Maffei, a family friend of one of Wolfe's free-lance men, offers to hire Wolfe to locate her missing brother Carlo, a metalworker. Wolfe, affected by the Depression , decides to take the job, ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Knocked Out by My Nunga-Nungas

    by Louise Rennison
    A teenage girl's humorous journey of self-discovery, finding her place in the world.

    As I was going out of my bedroom door I remembered my nungas. Perhaps I should take some precautions to keep them under strict control. Maybe bits of Sellotape on the ends of them to keep them from ... (Barnes & Noble)

  12. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

    by Mildred D. Taylor
    A family's story of struggle and survival during the Great Depression in the segregated American South.

    Nine-year-old Cassie Logan is walking to school with her siblings Stacey (twelve years old), Christopher-John (seven years old), and Little Man,(six years old), in rural Mississippi . Cassie talks ... (Wikipedia)

  13. The Sweet Far Thing

    by Libba Bray
    Gemma Doyle navigates the magical realms of the Victorian era, facing challenges and betrayals in her quest for power and freedom.

    The prologue begins with two men who are searching a river in London (three years before the events of the book) for dead bodies to fence any jewelry or money left upon them. They come across the ... (Wikipedia)

  14. A Pocket for Corduroy

    by Don Freeman
    A teddy bear's quest to find a pocket for himself, learning the power of friendship and resilience along the way.

    Come along with Corduroy as he goes on an all-new adventure. Corduroy, with his unaffected simplicity and childlike emotion, is one of the best-loved bears in children's books. His story has become ... (Goodreads)

  15. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    by Max Brooks
    A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.

    It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)

  16. American Born Chinese

    by Gene Luen Yang
    Three seemingly unrelated stories converge to explore themes of identity, assimilation, and acceptance in the American-born Chinese experience.

    All Jin Wang wants is to fit in. When his family moves to a new neighborhood, he suddenly finds that he's the only Chinese American student at his school. Jocks and bullies pick on him constantly, ... (Goodreads)

  17. Dodger

    by Terry Pratchett
    A street urchin's journey of survival, maturation, and self-discovery through the labyrinthine streets of Victorian London.

    One night on the streets of London, a battered young woman leaps from a carriage , followed and assaulted by two men. The protagonist Dodger, a street urchin and tosher , emerging from a sewer drain, ... (Wikipedia)

  18. An Abundance of Katherines

    by John Green
    A teenage boy's quest for love and self-discovery, learning to accept himself and find happiness.

    Colin Singleton, a child prodigy living in Chicago , fears he will not maintain his genius as an adult. Over the span of his life, Colin has dated nineteen girls named Katherine, all spelled in that ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Woods

    by Harlan Coben
    Detective story of a man searching for the truth behind his long lost sister's disappearance.

    Twenty years ago at summer camp, Paul Copeland's sister died in the woods, the alleged victim of a serial killer. Her body was never found. Now, Paul is the prosecutor for Essex County, New Jersey, ... (Goodreads)

  20. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

    by Fannie Flagg
    A nostalgic tale of friendship, courage and resilience set in the American South.

    Throughout the novel the narrator and time period change, and the reader relies on the chapters' headings to establish the date and the source of the chapter. Some of the narration comes in the form ... (Wikipedia)

  21. Okay for Now

    by Gary D. Schmidt
    A young boy struggles to find his place in a new town, but with the help of a kind librarian and John James Audubon's illustrations, he discovers his own talents and strengths.

    Douglas "Doug" Swieteck is a fourteen-year-old boy living somewhere on Long Island in 1968 during the Vietnam War . After Doug's dad is fired for mouthing off to his boss, the Swietecks move to the ... (Wikipedia)

  22. The House of the Scorpion

    by Nancy Farmer
    A gripping sci-fi story of a boy's fight for survival in a world of clones and immortality.

    This story is set in the country of Opium, a narrow strip of land between Mexico (now called Aztlán ), and the United States , which is ruled by the original Matteo Alacrán, or El Patrón, an ... (Wikipedia)

  23. The Blue Sword

    by Robin McKinley
    A young girl embarks on an epic adventure, discovering courage, strength, and her true identity.

    This is the story of Harry Crewe, the Homelander orphan girl who becomes Harimad-sol, King's Rider, and heir to the Blue Sword, Gonturan, which no woman had wielded since the legendary Lady Aerin ... (Wikipedia)

  24. Rebel Angels

    by Libba Bray
    Teen girl investigates mysterious history of her family, uncovering dark secrets and uncovering her own powers.

    The story picks up two months after the events in the first book. The opening chapter is narrated by Kartik, who has been brought before a council of the Rakshana. He is told that by destroying the ... (Wikipedia)

  25. The Testament

    by John Grisham
    A billionaire's will creates a legal battle between his descendants and the townspeople who have been displaced.

    In a plush Virginia office, a rich, angry old man is furiously rewriting his will. With his death just hours away, Troy Phelan wants to send a message to his children, his ex-wives, and his minions, ... (Goodreads)

  26. Life As We Knew It

    by Susan Beth Pfeffer
    A teenage girl's struggle to survive an apocalyptic disaster, relying on her resilience and resourcefulness.

    Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, ... (Goodreads)

  27. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd

    by Jim Fergus
    In 1875, May Dodd and a group of women are sent to marry Cheyenne warriors. May's journal tells of her journey and the relationships she forms.

    Based on an actual historical event but told through fictional diaries, this,, is the story of May Dodd—a remarkable woman who, in 1875, travels through the American West to marry the chief of the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  28. Bird Box

    by Josh Malerman
    A family's fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic world, where creatures lurk in the shadows.

    Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. Five years after it ... (Goodreads)

  29. Just Listen

    by Sarah Dessen
    A young girl's journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, navigating the complexities of teenage life.

    Annabel Greene is a girl who has it all—at least, that's how it seems on TV commercials. Annabel's life is far from perfect. , Her friendship with her best friends Clarke and Sophie ended bitterly. ... (Wikipedia)

  30. The Wednesday Wars

    by Gary D. Schmidt
    A coming-of-age story of a student facing the challenges of the Vietnam War era.

    In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero. The Wednesday Wars is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy’s mishaps and adventures over ... (Goodreads)