Cut (Paperback)

by Patricia Mccormick (Author) "you say it's up to me to do the talking. You lean forward, place a box of tissues in front of me, and your black..." (more)
Key Phrases: red checker, Sick Minds, Study Hall, Sea Pines (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Burdened with the pressure of believing she is responsible for her brother's illness, 15-year-old Callie begins a course of self-destruction that leads to her being admitted to Sea Pines, a psychiatric hospital the "guests" refer to as Sick Minds. Although initially she refuses to speak, her individual and group therapy sessions trigger memories and insights. Slowly, she begins emerging from her miserable silence, ultimately understanding the role her dysfunctional family played in her brother's health crisis.

Patricia McCormick's first novel is authentic and deeply moving. Callie suffers from a less familiar teen problem--she cuts herself to relieve her inner frustrations and guilt. The hope and hard-won progress that comes at the conclusion of the novel is believable and heartening for any teen reader who feels alone in her (or his) angst. Along with Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and E.L. Konigsburg's Silent to the Bone, McCormick's Cut expertly tackles an unusual response to harrowing adolescent trouble. (Ages 14 and older) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
In this adaptation of McCormick's debut novel, Lewis (TV's Ellen) imbues her reading with the cynicism and pain of the book's troubled 15-year-old protagonist, Callie. Callie faces some difficult emotional hurdles as a "guest" at the residential treatment center where she has been sent because she cuts herself with sharp objects. In a flat, unaffected tone, befitting someone unhappy with her situation, Lewis's Callie explains the daily routines and schedules at Sea Pines, the facility dubbed "Sick Minds" by Callie's roommate. Though she doesn't speak to her fellow guests, or even her doctors at first, listeners are always privy to Callie's feelings and her impressions of her surroundings, be it what the anorexic guests don't eat or how the substance abuse guests cope. Details of her stressful, dysfunctional home life trickle out along the way; it's at these points that Lewis's vulnerable voice invites listeners to feel compassion for Callie. As Callie makes breakthroughs with her therapists and comes to better understand her behavior and its causes, Lewis meets the challenge of tearful scenes. Lewis never sounds phony, though, and conveys the hope in McCormick's ending, which suggests Callie's eventual recovery. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Push; First Edition edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439324599
• ISBN-13: 978-0439324595
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (349 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,675 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Superficial treatment of a deep subject., September 12, 2003

By A Customer

I had expected more from this book when i bought it. After reading the summary on the back cover, i was hoping to read a serious novel that truly confronted the issue of self-injury (SI). Instead, i found the book to be lacking in depth and using SI 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. As written, the book is a very diluted version of "Girl, Interrupted," describing Callie's stay in the ward and some experiences with her therapist and with the other patients. 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.
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. If, however, 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 disapppointing.

62 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Cuts" to the Heart of the Issue, July 6, 2002

By	Allyn "pianogirl" (USA) - See all my reviews

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. This book is a masterfully written story chronicling (in detail) the thoughts that whirl around in Callie's mind. It is filled with vivid and poignant emotions, and Patricia McCormick develops her main character well. 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. I hope to see more from this author.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Creating a contrived "cutter" does nothing but harm, February 16, 2002

By	Terrence Ibarra (Missoula, Montana) - See all my reviews

Look, i don't want to be really mean or anything. I just feel I really have to write a little review of this after seeing all these good reviews. I cut myself for four years, from 14 to 18. I know what it's about, I know why people do it. I have talked to so many others that have gone through the same things. Almost the only thing i found affirming, empowering in this book was the thought, about half way through, that I, too, could be a published author. And one with a little authenticity as well. Maybe I'm the only one, but I just got the feeling, from start to finish, that the author had never watched blood seep up through her skin, never waited those moments between the cutting and the release. Additionally, there are at least three jokes in this book taken almost, if not, word for word from "Girl, Interrupted." This book, "Cut," was about as genuine as the episode of 7th Heaven that dealt with the same subject. If you are struggling with this, if you are looking for some understanding, a little illumination, or, if you are a friend of someone who cuts themselves, or even if you are just looking for a book on this subject, look somewhere, ANYWHERE else. You will find no help, you will be unable to GIVE any help based on anything in this book. I'm not sure who was involved in letting this thing out, but perhaps they should reevaluate their criteria, not to mention their careers. As for the author, if in fact she never has cut herself, I would suggest she look, in the future, towards her own experience, rather than co-opting a serious issue that afflicts so many. It is already misunderstood enough. Cutting does not need this sort of false publicity, this pseudo-understanding, this ingenuous "creativity."