Butter by Erin Jade Lange

Published September 18, 2012 by Bloomsbury
egalley for review from netgalley
4 stars
DAC

Goodreads Review
A lonely obese boy everyone calls "Butter" is about to make history. He is going to eat himself to death—live on the Internet—and everyone is invited to watch. When he first makes the announcement online to his classmates, Butter expects pity, insults, and possibly sheer indifference. What he gets are morbid cheerleaders rallying around his deadly plan. Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it begins to feel a lot like popularity. And that feels good. But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline? Can he live with the fallout if he doesn’t go through with his plans? With a deft hand, E.J. Lange allows readers to identify with both the bullies and the bullied in this all-consuming look at one teen’s battle with himself.

Review:  Butter is the story of an obese boy looking for acceptance and normalcy.  It's a story about how tough high school can be if you aren't perceived as one of the perfect popular crowd.

I could completely relate to Butter and his struggle with depression, self loathing, and his addiction to food.  I think that people try and self medicate in a lot of different ways, and for a lot of people food is their security blanket.  It's what they turn to when they are sad, lonely, bored, or scared.  Butter just wants acceptance, I think he's afraid to allow himself to be happy.  He eats to create a literal barrier between himself and other people because he's afraid to let people in.  His weight stops people from trying and he doesn't have to worry that they might get to know him and not like him for who he his, not just his appearance. 

I've read some reviews that say that Butter's classmate's reaction to his suicide plan as unrealistic.  Well, I disagree.  Maybe I have less faith in today's youth but it wasn't long ago that I was in high school and I could totally see my classmates egging people on.  I was an outcast too, and I could completely see someone doing anything to get the popular crowd's attention, and in turn the popular crowd taking full advantage of that. 

Butter is an extremely difficult book to read, and I think it will strike a deep chord with any person who as ever felt desperate to fit in.  It is equal parts heart warming and breaking, but handles some extremely sensitive topics with care and grace.