YA Lit Review: 'Cut' by Patricia McCormick

Cut by Patricia McCormick

available here at bn.com

This book tells the story of several girls in a residential treatment home called Sea Pines (nicknamed Sick Minds by the girls).  Some are anorexic, others overweight.  Some are drug addicts and other are cutters.  The main character, Callie, is in the last group.  Callie narrates the story as if she was talking with her counsellor. 

In the beginning of the tale, Callie is not speaking to anyone, least of all her counselor.  (This is quite reminiscent of the character in Speak.)  As the story progresses, Callie tells us a little bit about her life.  All is not well at home - her little brother has bad asthma, the mother is afraid of everything (perhaps related to her sons' sickness), and the father is distant.  We find out about how it feels to Callie to cut herself and the release it provides.  The turning point comes when Callie begins to open up more to those around her, starting with the therapist, which makes her realize that she is not alone and that everyone - even those who aren't at Sick Minds - have issues they need to deal with.  The moral of the story is that it is better to deal with and discuss your problems and face them head on, then avoid them.

The book itself is okay.  It is short, but it was not a page turner for me.  I think that perhaps teenage girls might feel differently as the girls in the story represent a wide group of teenage problems.  The reading level is do-able for most students, although underachieving readers might be a bit confused by Callie's use of second person, addressing the therapist as "you".  Teenage boys might have difficulty finding something to connect with in this story, even though the moral of this story would be relevant for them as well.  The only male characters are the brother and the father, and they play a minimal role.

Comments

[Crystalll]

i am a cutter and this book changed my life, i want to thank the author for saving my life and reminding me that what was most important was too WANT to get better, and once i made that decision i have been cut free. thanx Patricia McCorminck ur my hero.

[rinkrat1999]

I just finished this book. I also just finished nursing school. Our last clinical rotation was in a psyche ward - this book does an excellent job describing how effective Group Therapy can be. It works! A great book to help others see what it's like to have a mental illness and how to move towards wellness.

[Jb]

Cut is a book about a girl named Callie. She is a 15 year old girl who lives in a residential treatment facility called Sea Pines and doesn’t speak to anybody. I would rate this book as a 4 because Patricia McCormick left the read hugging with question about what happing to Callie and the other girl, and what happen to Sam and the rest of the family, Character and would there be a part two of the book. Patricia McCormick does not show me the character development. Why in the book the tune point is when Becca went into infirmary. Why now Callie stars talk why that is a big tune in the book?

[ashleyy]

This changed my life. It shows what is important, and andything difficult you can get passed or better from it. I would read this book 100 times! I will never let anything get in my way anymore.♥ Remember;; if you go down the wrong road, you can always turn around.☺

[Anonymous]

I honestly think this was an awesome book, since I cut myself. I;ve had issues of bulimia and overweight. I could relate to many characters in this book. And it kind of lets you see that all you have to do to get help is reach out, whether it is to a parent, to a friend, or even to a school offical. I was rather touched by this book to the point that I cried. It just let me get my emotions out by knowing I was not alone. That other girls, or maybe guys, where going through the same things I was, and maybe if I reached out I can get some help. And, yes Im not reaching put for help, because I dont want to get put in a rehabilitation hospital, such as Sea Pines, but this book certainly encourages me to do better and not cut.(and lso to hide my cuts better.)

[Maddie]

I ama cutter and this book will change my life forever. i understand why cutting is bad and why not to do it anymore. thank you patricia.

i think that Cut was a good book.
it made me realize the things that i do and somewhat why i do it. also i feel as if i can relate to Callie because sometimes when i'm running i just keep running feeling as if i could run forever to get away from what is bothering me. i sometimes feel as if i'm running away from my feelings and it's a good thing. but then i realize that it's not always a good thing to runaway from your feelings. but most of all i'm really glad that i read this book.

[sophia]

this book was really deep. but it made me want to cut myself and im not like that. i didnt like it effect on me. but it was good just not for me.

Cut was set in Sea Pines the correctional Facility for girls. When it starts she?s in group therapy at the facility. It?s about a young girl, about 16 who was a really nice girl. She did well in school and had good friends. She was an athlete; she did track and was really fast, she seemed perfectly normal. She had small problems at home with her little brother, he was sick. He had serious asthma And Callie blamed her self for his attacks. She somehow got really stressed out and began to express it by cutting her self. While her parents were sleeping she would sneak downstairs and do it. One day the nurse at school asked to check her pulse and saw her scars. Her parents decided she needed professional help and put her in Sea Pines Correctional Facility for girls. At the correctional facility she didn?t fit in. All the other girls were there be cause of eating disorders except for one, Amanda. She was there for cutting herself also but she was cocky about it, Amanda acted if she was proud of it. She never talked to anyone unless she had to. But finally she realized if she wanted to get better she was going to have to start trying. So she started talking to her therapist and then her friends until she started having normal conversations with everyone. This was a really wonderful story. I really enjoyed it. I think the author was trying to show people how serious of a problem this is and that it?s not to be taking lightly. We need to be aware the person who we least expect could be harming them selves. If I could give the author any criticism I would suggest a better ending, it was too easy and kind of predictable. There needs to be more to it. It ended too quickly. In a way it was kind of boring. It definitely could have been more exciting. But what I liked most about the book was how the author put the story in Callie?s point of view like she was talking to someone retelling what was happening as if it really was happening in her mind. It made it really interesting, it brought a sense of excitement. This book was unlike anything I?ve ever read before. Its truly one of a kind. By Monet Levalley-Garcia

[jj]

i hate the book . she eats shit.

[Dee]

Im 16, and i just finished reading this book. I thought it was good, my teacher reccomended it to me because i liked the book Speak. I thought this book was interesting because teenagers, girls especially can relate to this.

[diane deaton]

im diane and im almost 16 and ive been cutting for almost two years not that i really meant to keep track but ive read so many books about cutting and they always ended up in the main character getting better and wanting to stop cutting themselves and i couldnt relate to that but i dont know for some reason when i read this book it made me want to make an effort i guess i think its hard for other ppl to truly undrstand the reason alot of ppl cut themselves i think that many ppl doit for many reasons so its not an easily narrowed down answer many can give. but its weird now i want to talk about it where as before i started to but then closed. cutting is scary and its something you just want to keep doing and for me it became something i relied on so much and my parents found out and i got yelled at and anything that i could cut with they took but event that didnt stop me. but im really grateful for cut to be written because it gave me a light to see with although im still coping with cutting and still trying to get all the way to where i want to stop (something that im struggling with so hard) and sometimes i dont even want to i think because of this book that it will help others sometimes its easier to get those locked up feelings out with someone else saying them and id also liek to say that in my honors english class we are doing a two month long project an banned books a censorship and im proud to say i chose this book to stand up for. email me @ dark_lovedreams_09@yahoo.com or at myspace URL www.myspace.com/girlinblack09

[manpreet]

this book is de best i learned u shoulnt cut urself even though i dunt buh for those girls who do i think u girls should stop cuz this autor is got a point. plus it is very stupid to cut urself for a reason or not. u anit gettin anywhere with cutting rself dunt be stupid and make the right cohice dunt follow others be a leader:)
u r the best autour alive

can anyone plz give me a book report on this pppppllllllzzzzz

[tokiohotelluver]

the book was amazing. i cut also and i know what exactly callie went through. i loved it

[Michelle]

i love this book and it took me an hour to read
I LOVE THE BOOK
and people that want to banned should understand the meaning of the book before they want to banned any book

[Eva Esquivel]

well i read this book almost a year ago and i have to do a project on why the book is banned i think tha is ridiculous....

[Omar]

I read this book and I love it!

[Omar]

I love this book. It is very inspirational. I highly recommend other people to read it.

[kelsie l]

lmfao JJ thats hilariuos, she eats s*** but i like this book and I LOVE JORDAN WHITEHOUSE!!!

[COCKADOODLE]

this book isn't that good and i cut

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