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Cut

by Patricia McCormick

3.62 · rating details · 10,944 ratings · 1,201 reviews

"A tingle arced across my scalp. The floor tipped up at me and my body spiraled away. Then I was on the ceiling looking down, waiting to see what would happen next." Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside. Now she's at Sea Pines, a "residential treatment facility" filled wi...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published February 1st 2002 by Scholastic Inc. (first published October 30th 2000)

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Jan 17, 2009

jenny. rated it

Recommends it for: perhaps to people who only want a weak and vague overview?

I actually read this book approximately two years ago, while I was undergoing the problem presented in this book. What I had hoped to find was perhaps a level of understanding, or just some -- any -- meaning. But in all honestly, I finished it about two hours later, consumed by irritation and aggravation at the injustice of this book on a scale of many different levels!

As I've stated, I am one of the people who has undergone the emotions and mentality in order to become so desensiti...moreI actually read this book approximately two years ago, while I was undergoing the problem presented in this book. What I had hoped to find was perhaps a level of understanding, or just some -- any -- meaning. But in all honestly, I finished it about two hours later, consumed by irritation and aggravation at the injustice of this book on a scale of many different levels!

As I've stated, I am one of the people who has undergone the emotions and mentality in order to become so desensitised as to perform acts of self-mutilation. The main problem with this novel for myself was how I could not, no matter how hard I tried, connect with the main character. Honestly, she seemed ridiculous from the very beginning (I don't know why I didn't put the book down then, but I had hoped that maybe some sort of personality would shine through, just a little trace of it). She is stiff; a cardboard cut-out of a human being, with no real sense of personality of identity -- she is just the main character in which all these events revolve around, but it doesn't seem to actually affect her. (Do I make myself clear, or am I just rambling on?)

My main complaint is how short and vague this novel turned out to be. By the end of this short and flimsy book, one actually feels unsatisfied and disgusted (but maybe this is just me? I personally like depth into my stories...) And while, I suppose, this novel would be good for someone who wanted to get the gist of this (but why on earth would you only settle for the gist of it? Personally, I believe that this is quite a serious subject, and not one of those little silly teenage problems, so to speak. How can anyone take it so lightly in writing? It is unfair and unjust that such little effort and research has been put into this, and remarkable how it can turn into such a well-known novel!), it seems, to me, rather poorly researched and hardly believable.

McCormick could have done so much more to the story, such as a more in-depth character development, for one (and it seems to me that it should be something she should work on), and, if she were ever going to attempt another novel on issues similar to this on the future (see: drug/alcohol addiction, rape, etc.), perhaps she should do a bit more research instead of throwing together random facts and half-done characters into a weak plot and tossing it onto the shelves. (less)

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May 03, 2008

Jennifer Wardrip rated it

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews, trt-gold-star-award-winner, jen-read-in-2011, jens-personal-read

Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com

CUT is an amazing first novel by Patricia McCormick that offers a glimpse inside the mind of a 15-year-old girl who cuts herself. For Callie, life just became too complicated. The solution lay right in front of her. One tiny cut. A bubble of red. And yes, pain. Then, escape.

Callie now resides at Sea Pines with several other girls seeking treatment for a myriad of other disorders. She goes to group share time, hooks her slee...more

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Sep 10, 2007

Robotribble rated it

Recommends it for: Other People? Those Who Aren't Afraid Of Cuts And Blood. :/

I remember reading this book when I was eleven or so, and I found it really interesting. The way it's written [the main character speaks in a way that she addresses You yourself, as if you're her counselor] sort of just sucks you in, and you sort of find yourself in Callie's head, seeing things the way she sees them.
I read this book back when I was a normal little kid, too. The subject matter didn't really bother me then I guess, because it's really, really a fascinating book.

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Jun 10, 2008

m i C h e Lx3 rated it

We all get depressed every now and then in our lives and to cure ourselves is a good laugh. But could you picture yourself becoming seriously depressed and your only relief is to self mutilate? Patricia McCormick, the author of "Cut", can. This book is written in the first-hand account of the author. Patricia describes growing up as an empty teen with many hardships and her only escape is to hold a blade against her skin and cut. To think that her troubles would stop there, she's sen...more

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Nov 25, 2008

Sara added it

This book is obviously called "Cut."
if you like drama and detailed writing, this is the book for you! I do not recomend it to younger viewers. It is about a girl who cuts her wrists to replace her emotional pain with physical pain. She also never talks. After her mom found out she was cutting her wrists, she was sent to a place for people who are, Physicaly hurting themselves, Anorexic and other illnesses. After a month or two she finds ways to cut herself while she is there... ...more

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Jun 05, 2007

Jack Spicer rated it

Recommends it for: People who are in the struggle

A girl cuts herself and ends up in this clinic. She stays quiet for along time and the people from the clinic tries to kick her because they say she doesnt have insurance money but the girl thinks because she does not talk to no one. Then she cuts herself badly and goes to her counclier and finally starts talking to her counclier. She stats talking with her group, then she ran out the door she ran so far she got lost and dad gets called from her than she has to decide either she wants to stay we...more

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May 18, 2010

Piper rated it

Shelves: 3rd-term-read

Cut
By: Patricia McCormick
Published in 2002
Publisher: Push
Classification: Young Adult fiction

This book Cut has a interesting story line. In the book you saw just how kids with "problems" are like.

Cut is about a 13 year old girl named Callie, who likes to cut herself. Never to deep, but just enough for her to feel the pain. Callie's parents sent her to a residential treatment facility to try to get her to stop cutting herself. The only pro...moreCut
By: Patricia McCormick
Published in 2002
Publisher: Push
Classification: Young Adult fiction

This book Cut has a interesting story line. In the book you saw just how kids with "problems" are like.

Cut is about a 13 year old girl named Callie, who likes to cut herself. Never to deep, but just enough for her to feel the pain. Callie's parents sent her to a residential treatment facility to try to get her to stop cutting herself. The only problem is that Callie won't talk. Not until another girl checks in who also likes cutting herself, but this time in a different way.

The other girls at the treatment facility are, Amanda, Becca, Tara, Debbie, Sydney and Tiffany. Amanda the new girl cuts herself in a different way. Instead of just slitting her wrist like Callie does. Amanda gives her self tattoos, and after Callie has seen them she wanted to stop cutting herself. Becca, Tara, and Debbie all have eating problems. Becca is anorexic and bulimic. Even though she's at the treatment facility Becca refuses to get help. Like Becca, Tara is also anorexic and is bulimic, but unlike Becca, Tara wants to get help. In the book Tara helps Callie, and becomes good friends with her. Debbie on the other hand is the complete opposite of Becca and Tara. Debbie is a compulsive eater, and she is very over weight. In the book Debbie feels that she has to take care of Becca. Sydney, Callie's best friend there has a drug problem. She get addicted to any drug she has tried. Tiffany went to the treatment facility a.k.a Sick Minds, because she had a huge temper. Tiffany went to Sick Minds instead of going to jail. In my opinion, these characters were well written, and easy to follow. I also believe that Patricia McCormick wrote this book to help educate people about these kinds or characters, as well as just writing for the sake of writing. On the authors note it says that Patricia McCormick spent a few years gathering research for this book and for the characters. I actually quite liked this book because I thought the storyline was good, I also liked how the book was written so it felt like you were reading a letter to someone. Over all I enjoyed this book. (less)

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Feb 13, 2009

Chris White rated it

Recommends it for: teens and young adults

Recommended to Chris by: noone

Shelves: book-club

This book was amazing to me i liked it a bunch.I usually never finish a book unless it is very well written and has a good pase to the book.this book stars of with a girl running home from a run because she is a runner.she walks home and uses an easy cut to cut a ribbon then she puts the blade to her skin and that was the first time she cuts herself.but wht whole book is about the counsler trying to find out why callie cuts herself this is a great book and i suggest it to just about everyone.thi...more

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Oct 11, 2011

Heather rated it

The 10thAnniversary edition of Cut includes a brand-new afterword from author Patricia McCormick, an author Q&A, and added resources.

I've reviewed Cut before but I reread it with a fresh mind after having read so many novels that deal with tough issues like mental health, suicide and depression. Cut, is particularly painful in both senses of the word. Something about cutting makes me feel weak and a little faint. I look at my wrists and the thin pale skin there and the blu...moreThe 10thAnniversary edition of Cut includes a brand-new afterword from author Patricia McCormick, an author Q&A, and added resources.

I've reviewed Cut before but I reread it with a fresh mind after having read so many novels that deal with tough issues like mental health, suicide and depression. Cut, is particularly painful in both senses of the word. Something about cutting makes me feel weak and a little faint. I look at my wrists and the thin pale skin there and the blue veins there and know how easy it would be to hurt myself there. But that's not cutting. Cutting is something totally different. Cutting is self injury and is something the injurer is ashamed of and embarrassed about. They wear long sleeves to cover up what they've done, to hide their scars. So why do they do it? For each person it's different. But without help, it will get progressively more self destructive and could be life threatening. Cutting is a way to relieve the emotional pain the person feels inside, a way to release it when they have no other way to get relief.

In the book, Callie is a runner, but something has made Callie stop talking and start injuring herself. So her parents have sent her to Sea Pines for therapy and constant supervision. She has a little brother that almost died while she was watching him, he has severe asthma, but she performed CPR and saved his life. But her parents need to care for him and can't watch her, too. When she gets to Sea Pines, she's greeted by the residents who have renamed the place Sick Minds. Every girl there is there for a different problem and are in different stages of recovery. But Callie's state is particularly difficult because she gave up talking. She's stopped for so long, her vocal chords have seized up on her so that if she wanted to talk she doesn't think she can.

Most of the book is told from Callie speaking through her thoughts. She's hyper aware of everything. She sits in group therapy and talks, but only in her mind. She sits in therapy and talks, but again only in her mind. Then one day another cutter joins the group and unlike Callie, she wears sleeveless shirts and seems to wear her scars proudly, carving actual words into her arms. Callie is unnerved by her. It shakes her up when the girl seems to include her in a group of two. Callie isn't sure she wants to belong to a group with this girl. She's not sure she wants to belong to this group at all. She isn't sure she wants to stop. How will she deal if she does?

The catalyst for Callie trying to help herself, talking to her therapist finally is when her mother tells her over the phone that Sea Pines may send her home, that she has Oppositional Defiant Behavioral Disorder and that it's costing a fortune Blah Blah Blah. Or at least that's what Callie hears. She cuts herself that night and for the first time scares herself and tries to stop the bleeding. She goes to the nurses' station for help even though she'll get in trouble. And the next morning she shows up at her therapist's office before she even arrives for work. And she talks. She secures her spot at Sea Pines and slowly works through what made her start cutting. The reasons are surprising and the guilt and shame she carries is not only about the cutting but about something that occurred that she blames herself for when the fault lies with someone else. When she's taught to see it another way, she's able to begin to heal. But the temptation to cut throughout her stay at Sea Pines is ever present and she is very creative in finding things to use to cut herself with. We are left with a sense of hope at the end of the novel for Callie's recovery.

I can imagine the need Callie felt to cut herself, the desperation she felt to release her emotions. Hurting herself to do that seems so extreme yet I understand being so out of control and desperate for control. I've made no secret of my own mental health issues and those of my children and how fine a line we walk between balance and imbalance. Imbalance is unpredictable and can be the highest high or the lowest low.
Instant relief would be nice, but the relief would be too temporary for what we suffer from.

A great thing about this new version of Cut is that there are new resources and Q and A's with the author. After she wrote about Sea Pines, she visited a place like it and found that she had written it pretty true. It's interesting reading.

As a person living with mental health issues it's refreshing to see any book that doesn't vilify the victim. To see what the victim is suffering, how much she wants to get better, but can't help it, doesn't really know how. It's very much like many of us that live with mental health issues. To see myself not portrayed as a burden or crazy person is encouraging. Though my issues have nothing to do with self injuring, I'm thankful that Patty McCormick wrote this from the victim's point of view. It helps to make mental health not be such a social stigma. Callie is like any girl in high school. She could be your daughter, best friend, girlfriend or sister a neighbor or even a coworker. (less)

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Feb 01, 2008

stephanie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: self-injury, young-adult, 2008

i'm a sucker for the second person, so i think that i enjoyed the book more than i would have otherwise. i'm especially a sucker for second person when relating to a therapist, so this was kind of tailored for me.

that said, i think it could have been more. also, it didn't make a ton of sense - most people don't get shipped to resident facilities the first time they are really caught cutting. the reasoning behind her cutting was vague and, i thought, a little trite when she was so cl...more

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Nov 15, 2009

Emma rated it

Shelves: ssr

Emma Andrews
period 12/13
"Cut"
by: Patricia McCormick
pgs: 160
completed: September 11, 2009
rating: 8
Book #2

Although she may be a very minor character in the book, the waitress from Dunkin' Donuts has a major importance. You're probably thinking "out of all the people that Callie has met, you choose the Dunkin' Donut waitress?" Of course, because this one stranger helps Callie realize that she needs to get better. Wherea...more

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Mar 05, 2009

Ailin rated it

I just finished reading Cut by Patricia McCormick. Cut I s an inspiring novel about a young girl named Callie that cuts herself. From reading this book I learned that the people you see from their outsides, hurt inside a lot.

This book is about a young girl named Callie. She was sent to rehab because she cuts herself just to feel the pain. Just enough for her o feel the scream inside her. Her family visits her in rehab but she doesn’t say a lot to them. Callie goes through a lot with ...moreI just finished reading Cut by Patricia McCormick. Cut I s an inspiring novel about a young girl named Callie that cuts herself. From reading this book I learned that the people you see from their outsides, hurt inside a lot.

This book is about a young girl named Callie. She was sent to rehab because she cuts herself just to feel the pain. Just enough for her o feel the scream inside her. Her family visits her in rehab but she doesn’t say a lot to them. Callie goes through a lot with her insurance problems because they don’t cover her problems cause there issues. She has problems with the rehab place because they try to kick her out cause of her insurances, but she thinks its something different, about her being to quiet and not responding to people. She just goes threw a lot and doesn’t know a way of working things out.

This book is very touching. The things I see Callie going through happen in an everyday life. We may think we know the things people are going through, but never really know what happens behind our backs. The way she describes when she cuts herself makes me feel like it’s happening to me. I just feel weird. It was very descriptive when she describes cutting herself. For example on page 3 she describes, “ What happened next was that a perfect, straight line of blood bloomed from under the edge of the blade. The line grew into a long, fat bubble, a lush crimson bubble that got bigger and bigger. I watched from above, waiting to see how big it would get before it burst. When it did, I felt awesome. Satisfied, finally. Then exhausted”. The book was really good and understanding. People struggle through a lot of things in life. To know girls like me go through tough problems.

I would recommend this to teenagers. For the ones that have or experienced problems like Callie. This book is good and even if you haven’t had these problems its still a good book to read. This book helps you realize everyone has different issue that they go through. People that have gone through this can understand. Not everyone lives a happy life.

In conclusion Cut was a good book I enjoyed reading it. i would like to read this again. Things just happen in life and we have to deal with it.

(less)

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Jan 14, 2009

Mike C rated it

Recommends it for: troubled people

Recommended to Mike by: saw it and read it

I had to read a book for class. I really did not know what I was getting myself into when I picked up this book. I thought that the cover looks simple and I just need to read a simple book right now and then because I had a lot of other work to do. Well reading this made me kind of sick. I read the back and knew that it was of a suicidal girl but to have it go this far and make every thing so vivid and gruesome ug. I had to put the book down. I knew what the book would be about and that it would...moreI had to read a book for class. I really did not know what I was getting myself into when I picked up this book. I thought that the cover looks simple and I just need to read a simple book right now and then because I had a lot of other work to do. Well reading this made me kind of sick. I read the back and knew that it was of a suicidal girl but to have it go this far and make every thing so vivid and gruesome ug. I had to put the book down. I knew what the book would be about and that it would be simple but, after reading the summary on the back cover; I was kind of hoping to read a serious novel that truly confronted the issue of self-injury or something of the sort. Not that it relates to me or anything (not Sarcasm). Instead, I found the book to be lacking in depth and using self-injury as a gimmick to establish the lead character, Callie, in the setting of the book.

"Cut" is not a novel about the issue of cutting. It is a novel about a girl in an adolescent psychiatric ward. Fifteen-year-old Callie has a rare problem. She's not anorexic, she's not on drugs, and she's not bulimic. But she cuts herself. Soon she finds herself at a "residential treatment facility", Sea Pines (or "Sick Minds", as she calls it) and her hurt shows its face when she refuses to talk. Nothing seems to break the silence coming from Callie, and sometimes she just gets the urge to slice her skin, to see the blood...and it's like she's determined never to talk to her therapist. Callie's relationships with the other girls at the treatment facility add subtle insights about human nature and the universal need of friendship. I enjoyed how Callie's family life and her reasons for "cutting" were slowly explored and explained in this novel-in a very natural and empathetic way, without being contrite. But the best thing about this book was its hopeful ending that leaves us with the feeling that Callie has emerged from her treatment stronger, wiser, and able to overcome the temptation to cut herself.

It is such a simple book that with very little effort, this book could be rewritten as a story of a girl with an eating disorder or a substance abuse problem--the type of mental-health issue is unimportant to the plot. Seriously anyone can read this. I guess it could help the people out there who do need it.
If you are looking for a story about life in a psychiatric ward, written at a middle school level, this book is perfect and very readable and it does teach a life long lesson. That is to accept the things that happen to you because not everyone will have a good day and also love life. How’s that for simple. So if you are looking for a book for older teens or adults, or for a book specifically confronting the issue of self-injury, you will likely find "Cut" very disappointing on a reading level but, helpful in say the real world.

(less)

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Jan 31, 2012

Amy rated it

Shelves: contemporary, fiction, young-adult

This is one of the few books that I think works better as an audiobook as it's told entirely through Callie's eyes, in the first person. So much of this story is internal - thoughts, feelings, etc - that it translates very well to being 'heard' instead of read. It helped that the narrator had a very child-like quality to her voice as well.

The story overall is engaging and you are really drawn into Callie's world. She's struggling, she's trying, and yet, she doesn't seem to be ma...more

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Jan 30, 2012

Inkbitten rated it

Shelves: julia

Judged By Cover: Simplicity Beats All

Now I have recently realized that in a lot of my reviews I have said something in the judged by cover section like "there's really not much to say about the cover" and then go off on how simple is best and my "scientific" reasoning behind the entire cover. I would like to apologize for that because this cover is so simple I really don't have much to say about it. It is basically just the word cut with two Slashes behind the wo...more

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Jan 29, 2012

Karolina rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 25, 2012

Liz Winn rated it

Callie is sent to a treatment facility after her parents discover that she’s been cutting herself. After a while, she finally opens up to her psychiatrist and begins to re-examine the fragile home environment that prompted her distress. Although not as powerful as others of its kind in the “teen issues/bibliotherapy” genre, the message that Cut provides is a heartwarming one: we all have the power to change our situation, if we only are willing to take the initiative. Despite the novel’s short l...more

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Dec 10, 2011

Jonnie Comet rated it

Much has been written about this book, especially by literature teachers who tend to assign it to 9th-graders as a way of connecting with a perception of 'modern' teen angst that the teachers have long lost sight of. But it is much more than an exercise in politically-correct literature canon.

First you have the whole sad matter of WHY Callie cuts herself. Then you'll see how she evaluates her problem, how she faces its consequences, and how she begins to heal. Through all you see ...more

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Nov 29, 2011

Deidra added it

Honestly, I'm not sure why I've felt the need lately to read such intense books. From Patterson murder mysteries to Ellen Hopkins to this fabulous book I'm about to tell you about, it's a wonder my brain isn't in intensity overload.

I choose to reread this book, mostly because I wanted to find out if it blowed my mind as much as it did in middle school. It didn't. In the defense of the book though, when I first read it I had only been exposed to the tamer side of average middle s...more

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Nov 13, 2011

Staci Taylor rated it

Shelves: young-adult-lit-class-books

This book was interesting, I really enjoyed it. Even though it was dark and about a girl who cuts herself, I thought the author did a really good job with portraying what "S.T." was thinking and feeling and going through. This story was fairly dark and sad, however, it taught a good message. I don't know who to write without giving the story away, so, here goes nothing...this girl struggles with thinking that everything is her fault, the reason why her brother is sick she sees it as he...more

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Nov 06, 2011

Sherri rated it

Shelves: ya-lit-2011-12, harding-11-12

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Rating: **** The main character, Callie, tells the story of cutting herself. This is a topic I have never understood, and this book gives some insight into the mind of a “cutter.” Callie is a compelling character, and her story is very real for many teenagers.

Summary: Callie has been sent to Sea Pines, also know as Sick Minds, for cutting herself. She is fifteen years old and doesn’t speak to anyone in the beginning. Her therapist is finally ...more

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Oct 22, 2011

Anita rated it

Recommends it for: Teens and anyone who enjoys YA

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

Cut is the story of Callie a 13-14 year old girl who is currently living in a treatment facility, Sea Pines, where the girls in treatment refer to it as Sick Minds. The patients range from girls with eating disorders, addictions and other mental issues, like cutting oneself.
The books is written from Callie's point of view,and tells her story. She is first silent as she attends Group and one on one therapy. She listens, but does not share. She thinks so very very much, and we, the reader...more

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Oct 17, 2011

Jodi Papazian rated it

Shelves: ya-reads

Cut is one of those books that I've kept meaning to read for awhile. It is on the school summer reading list and is always very popular (whether for the content or the shortness of it, I'm not sure). I picked it up the other day and found it to be a very quick and engaging read.
Callie is in an in-patient care facility for her cutting. Although you are only given one instance to her cutting before her treatment (her first time), you know that it has been a persistent problem ...more

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Oct 11, 2011

Brit West rated it

Cut was set at Sick Minds, I mean, Sea Pines which is a facility for girls with “issues”. The story opens at a therapy session at the facility. Callie is 15 or 16 years old, a good kid, and a nice girl, she did well in school, she ran track, and she seems like every other kid her age, but why is she at a treatment facility? The story Callie is telling is the story she wishes she could say, but she refuses to speak, which has left the progress of treatment dwindling. Callie’s stay at Sea Pines is...more

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Aug 25, 2011

Sheila DeChantal rated it

A tingle arced across my scalp. The floor tipped up at me and my body spiraled away. Then I was on the ceiling looking down, waiting to see what would happen next.

Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside.

Now she's at Sea Pines, a "residential treatment facility" filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn't want to have anything to do with them. She doesn't w...moreA tingle arced across my scalp. The floor tipped up at me and my body spiraled away. Then I was on the ceiling looking down, waiting to see what would happen next.

Callie cuts herself. Never too deep, never enough to die. But enough to feel the pain. Enough to feel the scream inside.

Now she's at Sea Pines, a "residential treatment facility" filled with girls struggling with problems of their own. Callie doesn't want to have anything to do with them. She doesn't want to have anything to do with anyone. She won't even speak.

But Callie can only stay silent for so long....

Injuring yourself on purpose by making scratches or cuts on your body with a sharp object — enough to break the skin and make it bleed — is called cutting. Cutting is a type of self-injury, or SI. Most people who cut are girls, but guys self-injure, too. People who cut usually start cutting in their young teens. Some continue to cut into adulthood.

~Kids Health.Org

How interesting that I recently finished After by Amy Efaw, and find myself right back in a girls treatment facility with this book..... hmmm.... :razz:

Cut is a book I have been wanting to read for quite a while. When I first heard about it I was wondering what a book with the subject of cutting would be like. With the same YA draw about teen issues as SPEAK had, I was pulled into this story about Callie and the reson she cuts.

This book is told from Callie's perspective and much of the dialogue is her thoughts as for most of the book.... Callie does not speak... not to the other girls, not to the doctor and nurses, and not to her therapist. While she does as she is told, she does nothing verbal.

The girls in the facility (the facility is called Sea Pines, but the girls call it "Sick Minds") have mixed reasons for being there. Some have eating disorders, depression, substance abuse... yet until Amanda comes, there are no other girls who cut. Amanda plays a bigger role in this book then you would at first think. Although she enters late, her being there for the same reason as Callie is huge, and really a step in the right direction for Callie's start to recovery.

I found this book to be a fairly quick read - while small is size, it packs in a wallop of a topic that is big for teens. The book had an impact but not as big of one as I had originally thought I was going to experience pre- read. It was fast, interesting, and hopefully it speaks to anyone who cuts.(less)

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Aug 03, 2011

D. Biswas rated it

It is a young adult novel (and somewhat of a cult classic, as I discovered afterwards), and I thought I would just browse through it, because the premise looked interesting: a teenaged girl who cuts herself.

Having in the past read about all the hoo-haa some people have raised about how young adult books are unsuitably dark, I wanted to see how the subject was treated here....from the cover and the blurb, I knew it was not a cheerful, fluffy book.

I began reading, and I was h...more

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Jul 06, 2011

Kelsa rated it

Shelves: won, reviewed

I was a little worried when I first received Cut in the mail. I knew it would unnerve me to read about someone cutting, and it did. Some of the scenes made me cringe, others made me have to put the book down for a moment. It was to much for me to read how Callie would use her mother's cooking knife or a piece of an aluminum pie pan to seek release from what affected her so deeply.

Callie's story was cryptic and I think that is what I enjoyed the most about her story. You didn't un...more

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Jul 01, 2011

Maggie Desmond-O'Brien rated it

wasn't sure what to expect from this book. Actually, no. I've realized I say that a lot in my reviews, because I guess nobody really knows what to expect from this book. I knew more or less what to expect from this book...an exploration of family problems, teenage psychology, and an eventual message that cutting isn't okay. I'd heard people put it in a league with Speak, I'd heard people say that it was preachy, I'd heard people say that they'd never even heard of it, so what would they know...morewasn't sure what to expect from this book. Actually, no. I've realized I say that a lot in my reviews, because I guess nobody really knows what to expect from this book. I knew more or less what to expect from this book...an exploration of family problems, teenage psychology, and an eventual message that cutting isn't okay. I'd heard people put it in a league with Speak, I'd heard people say that it was preachy, I'd heard people say that they'd never even heard of it, so what would they know?

Figuring I'd only be one swap credit down if I hated it, I picked it up, and surprise, surprise, it languished for months. Since...er...June. Something about the spare cover, the possibility of somebody trying hopelessly to understand the teenage mind, all put me off. I don't think I even opened the first page until four days ago, and then, boy oh boy was it a quick read from there. I think it took me an hour and a half, max. To my pleasant surprise, it wasn't preachy. Mostly, it was great. Three cheers for second person POV done well; it hardly ever is. McCormick skillfully guides us through Callie's head and her feelings. Unfortunately, it also suffered from what seems to be the bane of my existence in YA lately, so-called "spare writing."

Let me clarify what spare writing means to me, and correct me if I'm wrong. Spare writing means condensed plot lines, and showing instead of telling. I could go on with what it means - the possibilities there are infinite - but I can definitely tell you what it doesn't mean to me: a lack of information that's important to the plot. In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson kept it spare by keeping the plot fairly simple, and exploring many sides of it. In Cut, I kept waiting for more details on the why. How did Callie even conceive of cutting as an escape? Did she have friends at school that did it? Did she start running with a bad crowd? Was it a status symbol? I know and have known people who cut, so I understand that the reasons aren't simple, but it still felt like we should have gotten some more information. Callie felt hollow. While she certainly had her problems - Sam in particular tugged at my heartstrings - I still felt like she was there for a teen to project themselves into. It might not have been preachy, but it still didn't ring true.

That said, I loved the dynamics of the other girls at Sick Minds, Tiffany, Becca, and Debbie in particular. That was the part of the book that stuck with me at the end - the fractured friendships that develop under pressure, when you've hit the bottom and somehow just keep falling through. This book is about a decade old now, so I'm sure Patricia McCormick has done other work, and if she has I'd be willing to read it just on the virtue of the bickering and small kindnesses she captured here.

All in all, this book was very enjoyable and the prose was beautiful, but it didn't strike a chord with me the way that other issue books like Speak did - perhaps because it was very conscious of itself as an "issue" book, and not so much as simply a good teen story like the others. Four out of five stars.(less)

· see review

Jun 04, 2011

Sarah rated it

Patricia McCormick's Cut has been out for ten years now but I only read it for the first time this past weekend. It is a short book that speeds along like a bullet train and drives home point after painful point. In the tenth anniversary edition, author Patricia McCormick speaks about the impression Cut has left on readers. I'm not at all surprised because this book still stands out, even amongst all the angst and drama that are Ellen Hopkins' books, or Dave Pelzer titles, Cut will leave a mark....morePatricia McCormick's Cut has been out for ten years now but I only read it for the first time this past weekend. It is a short book that speeds along like a bullet train and drives home point after painful point. In the tenth anniversary edition, author Patricia McCormick speaks about the impression Cut has left on readers. I'm not at all surprised because this book still stands out, even amongst all the angst and drama that are Ellen Hopkins' books, or Dave Pelzer titles, Cut will leave a mark.

Synopsis: Fifteen-year old Callie is so withdrawn that she's not speaking to anyone including her therapist at the residential treatment facility where her parents and doctor send her after discovering that she cuts herself. Her story unfolds primarily through dramatic monologues, gradually revealing the family turmoil that led to her self-destructive behavior. Her little brother, Sam, is ill he nearly died in her care. Since Sam's illness, Callie's mother has become so worried and fragile that she rarely leaves the house. Her father has responded to the psychological and financial stress of Sam's illness by disappearing into his work, and when that doesn't work, into his drinking.

Callie's efforts to understand herself and her family illuminate her process of recovery honestly and with hope. Cut provides an insightful look at the psychology of cutting a form of self-abuse an estimated 2 million teenage girls inflict on themselves. (Goodreads.com)

Callie, the main character, does not speak. She has been admitted to Sea Pines (or, Sick Minds as the residents call it) and does not want to be there. Though she cuts herself, in her mind there is no problem. However, as she starts to get to know the other residents of Sick Minds, she starts to, if not become a bit friendlier, better understand the situation she has put herself in, while starting to feel some compassion for herself and for the other girls.

I think what made this book leave such an impression on me is that it's not particularly flashy or melodramatic. It just is what it is, a story about a girl who is suffering, much like Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak. I didn't get the overwhelming feeling of drama for drama's sake like I sometimes do with other issue books. This is the story of not only Callie but also the other girls who are suffering. It is a story of how it can be easy to beat the system that is supposedly should be helping you. It is a story of family troubles, adult drama and parent/child relationships. It is a sparse story but it digs into the reasons why Callie is cutting herself and it gives her somewhat of an antagonist in Amanda, a more flashy, somewhat more bitter and cynical cutter who, unlike Callie, never seems to develop into someone who wants to stop cutting. Her hard outer shell does not crack quite so much.

I like too that the parents develop beyond caricatures. They are not always neglectful or ignorant of Callie's pain, it just takes her a bit of time to see beyond her initial impressions. But there is a scene at the end that shows redemption for the father figure in particular. He is not perfect and yeah, still seems like a bit of a jerk, but there's movement in his character.

Mostly, I liked this book because it takes such a serious topic and treats it that way. While Callie certainly improves her relationships with the other girls, mostly this is her struggle and how she opens herself up to finding the help she needs. Unlike in Julia Hoban's Willow, which I did enjoy, I feel like Callie is the one who became stronger throughout the story, rather than relying on others to find her strength. I'm not sure if that distinction is all that clear, but for me it stands out, even as it is a fairly standard complaint about that book.

I sped through Cut and I can definitely recommend reading it if you haven't yet. And it is definitely a worthy purchase for a public library. Patricia McCormick started off with a bang as a writer and she only continues to improve.(less)

· see review

May 31, 2011

Laura rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: middle-school-and-up

Books like this are often read by people who are suffering from the same pain as the main character and maybe in some cases it is comforting or cathartic to read about a similar situation. But even if that is the case I still think it's difficult to identify with the main character. Callie has some problems with depression, granted. But she is attention-seeking in her silent-treatment behavior and the progress she makes in the facility sounds superficial.
But I may be too close to the issue...more

like 1 like

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About Patricia McCormick

Patricia McCormick is a journalist and writer. She graduated from Rosemont College in 1978, followed by an M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1986 and an M.F.A. from New School University in 1999. Her first novel for teens was Cut, about a young woman who self-injures herself. This was followed by My Brother's Keeper in 2005, about a boy struggling with his brother's ...more

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Quotes from Cut

“I imagine you working on me as an algebra problem, reducing me to fractions, crossing out common denominators, until there's nothing left on the page but a line that says x = whatever it is that is wrong with me.” — 45 people liked it

“Look. I have a strategy. Why expect anything? If you don’t expect anything, you don’t get disappointed.” — 45 people liked it

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