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14th out of 35 books
—
133 voters
Crosses
by
Shelley Stoehr (Goodreads Author)
We cut ourselves. Not by accident, we do it purposely--and regularly--because physical pain is comforting, and because now it has become a habit.
Nancy doesn't have a best friend, until she meets Katie in the bathroom at school. She and Katie have something in common: they both cut themselves. At first, it's just fun--like the drugs and alcohol and shoplifting--and Nancy an...more
Nancy doesn't have a best friend, until she meets Katie in the bathroom at school. She and Katie have something in common: they both cut themselves. At first, it's just fun--like the drugs and alcohol and shoplifting--and Nancy an...more
Mass Market Paperback, 160 pages
Published
October 13th 1998
by Laurel Leaf
(first published 1991)
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778)
One of the first books about cutting, and still relevant.
Damn. Had a whole review written then accidentally closed the tab. Le sigh.
OK, so, what did I write? This book made all things punk seem supremely unattractive to me. I'm not going to pretend that it was a torturous read or totally boring, as I definitely was drawn back in over and over, but it had enormous potential, and lived up to next to none of it.
'Crosses' read like this: "So here's this dumb thing I did. I got in trouble. Here's this other dumb thing I did. I got in trouble. Here are more...more
OK, so, what did I write? This book made all things punk seem supremely unattractive to me. I'm not going to pretend that it was a torturous read or totally boring, as I definitely was drawn back in over and over, but it had enormous potential, and lived up to next to none of it.
'Crosses' read like this: "So here's this dumb thing I did. I got in trouble. Here's this other dumb thing I did. I got in trouble. Here are more...more
Sep 05, 2012
Miharu Rokujou
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
eating-disorders,
books-i-loved
When I read the description of this book I knew I would enjoy reading it, and I did quite a bit! The story is about two high school aged girls in the late 80s who are into the punk scene and they discover they have a lot in common, like self harming. They decide to experiment with drugs, boys who were too old for them, shoplifting, and all kinds of crazy stuff that must have been way easier to get away with back in the 80s than it would be now.
The only thing that bugged me about this book was th...more
The only thing that bugged me about this book was th...more
Dec 14, 2009
Victoria Vanamburg
added it
I finished this entire book within one day. It well described the hardships of teenage girls going through the rough times of adolescents with absent parents. I love that this is the first book written on self mutalation and people still read it, and my opinion its not even out of date. I think teens these days still go throught the same issues and struggles that Nancy and Katie did. Overall I enjoyed the book, but the ending greatly dissapointed me. I seriously thought there was a page missing....more
Crosses is a very short read. Clocking in at under 200 pages, dont pick it up if you are looking for substance in a piece of work. it is a light and fluffy (read: overly dramatic and generally droll) approach to teenage cutting, drug use, and sex. The author, Shelley Stoehr, has written many similar books with titles such as Weird on the outside and Wannabe. so it looks like she had some success with crosses and decided to relive her youthful self-depreciating behavior through books and make a l...more
One of the very first books that ever touched me, I read this book in school and fell in love. Nancy will make you laugh and cry. Piss you off and learn to love her. She is what many others are in this world and never get the attention they need... Get ready to cry and laugh along with her.
I read this book for a class and I thought it was a fairly accurate depiction of your average high school good-girl gone bad. This shows Nancy's downward spiral after she gets in with the wrong crowd. This happens when she meets a fellow cutter who leads a bit more extreme life than she does.
Honestly, It is usually interesting to read of the struggles that other young people suffer through, and at times it can even be uplifting to see them overcome the trials of drug abuse, eating disorders, and self mutilation. Yet, with Crosses, the problems that the main character went through seemed shallow and there was nothing to be learned. It was pretty much like watching a bad accident, accept its happening in slow motion. I couldn't help but hold the main characters with contempt, and ther...more
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Jun 30, 2011
Katie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
self-injury-cutting,
own
At some point it is no longer just about survival. It becomes sink or swim, live or die.
The book was okay, kind of mundane, but good enough.
Hope for the Hopeless:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOSUvg...
The book was okay, kind of mundane, but good enough.
Hope for the Hopeless:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOSUvg...
I have read this book like 25 times. I love Shelley's books and I feel like I am right there in the room with the characters, living their lives with them.
I must have read this book a dozen times. I love it. Emotional, heart-felt, truthful, deep, painful. I'd recommend this book to all teens. I've personally struggled with SI most of my adolescent life. This is definitely a favorite book of mine.
I loved it. It was amazing. It was fun to read especially because I could relate to it, and the characters were really vivid. It was cool.
This book was very good. Its a sad and touching story but i really enjoyed it alot.
About 2 teenagers who are addicted to drugs and cutting themselves... quite a story.
Jan 09, 2010
Susan
added it
Included in the phase in which I read a handful of badass teen novellas
loved it could really relate. it helped see it from anothers prospective
great coming of age in a drugged out state book.
Raw and haunting.
go ask alice
I picked up an old copy of this and I didn't think it would be any good, but it hit a surprising amount of nerves with me. I never participated in cutting, but I had a friend that did when I was about the age of the characters in the book. A lot of the feelings, the reactions of others, the 'reasons' behind the cutting brought back a lot of my own memories. The author must have had some personal experience to write so truly and frankly (or a hell of an imagination).
crosses is about two young girls who go down the wrong path, and start cutting. i cant really tell about this book without giving everything away. If you like books that are based on real life experiences this is a really great book to read. it is honestly my all time favorite book, i will always love this book.
I thought this was a very well written book. I loved Nancy's attitude and the carefree nature of the book. If you don't have a problem reading about cutting, then I think you should read this book, especially since it is based in the 1980's which makes it even more interesting.
Nancy meets Katie and they become friends through the need for cutting. Nancy gets caught up in drugs and drinking with Katie while trying to keep other aspects of her life together, especially after tragedy befalls their friendship.
Oct 01, 2008
Wacky
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
teen angst fans, masochists, mental health afficianados
Recommended to Wacky by:
heather feather
i pretty much lived this book. this was me in high school. only i was worse in some aspects, and better in others. its written simply, but is full of raw emotion, which is kind of more important, given the subject matter.
Sep 30, 2007
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
read-ya,
read-goodreads-authors
In addition to self-mutilation, this girl is also into drinking and drugs. I liked Patricia McCormick's Cut a bit better.
This book is, to me, a book which carries a thousand of memories with it. It's intruiging, fascinating, but dangerous.
Compelling and frightening. I read it because I knew someone who cut themselves and this certainly rang true to me.
Fast read, of course... and the ending is disappointing..
Jun 16, 2013
Ocean
marked it as to-read
Jun 15, 2013
Amy K.
marked it as to-read
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