Product Description

This debut novel deals boldly with mental illness and is by turns riveting, thrilling, and heartbreaking. Teens will relate to the adolescent drama and all-important friends as the main character tries to ³cut² it. The bittersweet tale will resonate in the turbulent world of young adults and its readers will find hope in the uplifting end.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3991 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780439324595
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Customer Reviews

Superficial treatment of a deep subject.
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.

Creating a contrived "cutter" does nothing but harm
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."

"Cuts" to the Heart of the Issue
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.