Cut By Patrcia McCormick

       Have you ever given everyone you know the silent treatment? How long could you keep it going? Well, fifteen-year-old Callie the main character in Patricia McCormick's Cut isn't speaking to anybody, not even to her therapist at Sea Pines also known as "Sick Minds". This is the residential treatment facility where her parents and doctor sent her after discovering that she self harms. Callie isn't sure why she cuts herself, but the fact that she won't talk to anybody isn't helping. At Sea Pines there are levels 1, 2 and 3. If you are level one such as Callie and Amanda you can't be left alone, you can't walk to classes by yourself, you can't do just about anything by yourself. Level twos have a bit more freedom, just ask Becca and Tara who suffer from an eating disorder or Sydney and Tiffany. Lastly level three, level threes have as much freedom as you can get in a treatment facility! Level threes can walk around freely and they can even escort others to their classes. When Callie goes to therapy she begins to think of the day she cut herself. Callie was running a track race, when all of sudden she had run home and had a knife in her. Amanda is another girl who has been taken into the addiction of self harm, Amanda is very open about her situation and doesn't mine rolling up a sleeve for everyone to see the stories on her wrist. Sydney who has been addicted to every drug she has ever tried befriends Callie. Although Callie doesn't speak for quite sometime Sydney understands Callie. Debbie, Tara and Becca have eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia, the three of them looks out for one another and never seem to leave one anothers side. Tiffany isn't a big part of the book but her and Sydney are pretty good friends considering they deal with similar addictions. Tiffany was addicted to crack, she was sent to Sea Pines instead of jail. As the story goes on you get to see first hand the realistic struggles every girl faces with their situation. You get to understand first hand how each of the 6 girls handles themselves on the insane road to recovery! Some girls like Callie and Amanda relapse, cutting themselves once again, some such as Sydney put on a bold front and some just simply live there not knowing what to do. When "you" who is the therapist finally gets Callie to talk they make an amazing step in Callie's recovery, Callie opens up like she has never done before telling her therapist about her brother, mother, and dad. But, one thing Callie hasn't told her therapist is about her running. Callie runs to clear her head, but there's this exit sign at Sea Pines and Callie has always wondered what would happen if she were to open the exit door. When one day she decides to find out and she just starts running, not knowing were she's going or what she's going to do when she gets there. When she ends up by a highway not knowing were she is or who to call she picks up a near by payphone and calls her dad. Callie walks to the near by Dunkin Donuts when she makes friends with the waitress. When her dad gets there she feels comfort and they quickly get in their car. When Callie is asked where she wants to go, she replies Sea Pines, Callie wants to get better, she truly does.
     I really enjoyed reading Cut! I think that it makes you realize that no matter how happy someone seems you have know idea what they may be going through and how they may be dealing with it. I think that that is an important message because now and days people think that a computer screen or a cell phone screen can give them the power to say what ever they want, but what they don't realize is how much that could hurt someone. Although that is not Callie's case in the book people are quick to judge her by the stories on her wrist, when really all they know is her name. This book was my favorite because of the way Patrcia McCormick includes Callie's thoughts. I feel as if I can hear exactly what she is saying and how she is feeling. This is a bit of a gory book and when they begin to talk about the levels of Sea Pines it get a bit confusing. I'm really glad I stumbled along this book at the HMS library!

By:Sydney Woodsum (8-9/Spicer)