Butter (review)

Marshall has always struggled with his weight, but a bullying incident that earned him the nickname Butter plunged him into a shame spiral that now has him tipping the scales at 423 pounds. After a particularly humiliating day in the cafeteria, Butter posts a website in which he promises to eat himself to death on New Year's Eve and stream it live on the internet. Suddenly he's in with the popular guys in his class, who are betting on everything from what the menu will be to whether or not he'll really go through with it. His newfound popularity even allows him the chance to get to know Anna, the classmate he's been internet friends with, in person. As his deadline approaches, he struggles with his ambivalence: he's not actually suicidal, and he knows his new friends don't really care about him; however, hanging out with them and doing normal high-school things is fun. Ultimately, whether he makes good on his threat or not, his new popular life will end, one way or another, on New Year's Eve. Butter is the quintessential outsider, with an understandable chip on his shoulder. He's not always likable, but he directs his anger in ways that will speak to the deepest frustrations of teen readers. His exasperation with his mother is particularly well conveyed, as her efforts to be supportive end up merely one more source of grief for Butter. His father's response is affecting as well; he has stopped talking to his son because he doesn't know what to say, and in truth, there is nothing he can say that Butter hasn't already heard and internalized as a marker of failure and shame. Butter needs a catastrophe to shake him out of his fatalistic attitude, and he gets it; readers will find his story engrossing and thought provoking.