Cut

I just went to check a detail from the back cover of Cut, by Patricia McCormick, and -- why am I surprised? -- it’s not there! Cut remains the most popular of our Library’s several novels dealing with the difficult topic of cutting. (Next most popular being Steven Levenkron’s The Luckiest Girl in the World, followed by Melody Carlson’s Blade Silver.)

Callie cuts herself to feel better, first with an Exacto knife, and later with just about anything that will get the job done. The more she cuts, the less she talks, and pretty soon she isn’t talking at all. As soon as the school nurse sees her scars, Callie is sent off to Sea Pines for treatment. (“The place is called a residential treatment facility. It is not called a loony bin.”) Most of the book then becomes a silent conversation, heard only by the reader, as Callie mentally responds to her therapist and the other girls in her treatment group.

And what a group! McCormick’s novel rings true as we meet the other “guests” and follow their struggles with food, drugs, alcohol, and the other self-destructive behaviors that have landed them at “Sick Minds” along with Callie.

Gradually, through memories and flashbacks, Callie offers up details of her life from before she started to cut. And when Amanda joins the group, proudly displaying scars of her own, Callie gets a life-changing jolt.

Cut is a real couldn’t-put-it-down sort of book, full of drama, insight. and vivid description (“a perfect straight line of blood bloomed up from under the edge of the blade....”) If you like realistic stories about teens in trouble, give it a try. If you’ve read it already, tell us what you think!