Cut
by Patricia McCormick

Subjects: Mental Conditions
Genre: Realistic Fiction

What causes people to cut themselves, to press a razorblade, a pair of scissors, the edge of a disposable pie plate, anything sharp to the skin?  How does it feel to press and drag until blood begins to weld and run?  Why do you do it in secret? What do you do when you can’t seem to stop?  15 year old Callie is trying to discover the answers.  She’s a cutter.  She’s been found out and is now locked in the looney bin with the rest of the crazies: the food issue group, the druggies, and her group the assorted psychos.  They’re all here to get help.  Only Callie won’t say a word, not in her hour long sessions with her shrink who fills Callie’s file with blank sheets of dated paper, not during group, not even with the other “guests”.  She’s ST, silent treatment.  Time, patience, and insurance money are running out for Callie.  If she doesn’t respond to treatment soon, she’ll be committed to the Humdinger unit.  Those who go there never get out.  What triggered Callie’s destructive behavior and turned her from a normal long distance runner to assorted psycho?  How do you get help, if you won’t speak? Read Cut by Patricia McCormick. 

Booktalk prepared by Janice Bailey, East Central High Librarian