GENRE: Fiction: Realistic fiction, problem solving. 
 SUBJECT/THEMES: Self-mutilation, other adolescent emotional troubles, self-growth. 
 SUMMARY: Fifteen-year-old Callie has been sent to the Sea Pines (dubbed 'Sick Minds' by the inhabitants) mental hospital because she cuts herself. Beyond her self-injury, Callie cannot or will not speak. She avoids eye contact during group therapy so that she won't be singled out or expected to respond. During her individual sessions, Callie passes time by counting the stripes in the room's wallpaper. Before Callie can begin her journey to heal, she must speak, and that first step could be one of the most difficult ones to take. 
 EVALUATION: Cut puts the reader into the thick of the setting from the beginning, which can often lead to an easy way to 'get into' a book. Initially I found myself yearning for a bit more of Callie's background. I wanted to know why she practiced self-injury, and I wanted to know immediately. The patient reader will gain enough information over the course of the book to help them better understand Callie's motives. I found Cut to be a quick read, and the more I read, the more I enjoyed it. The various characters grew on me, and I was truly touched by the ending. 
 WHY I WOULD INCLUDE IT: This book was suggested as an alternative to urban fiction for readers who enjoy the genre, but find it difficult to borrow from the library due to its popularity. Cut contains none of the violence, sex, or gritty street language that urban fiction has become known for, yet it deals with an issue that is away from the norm, something those readers may appreciate. I would also include it as an aid to female teens suffering from self-injury (or for a teen that has a friend or family member suffering from this), and to a lesser extent, for those with bulimia and anorexia as well. The book is a fine example of how a young person can hit the bottom, and still recover. Lastly, my library shelves this in the adult fiction section, though after reading it, I do not understand why. 
 ITEMS WITH SIMILAR APPEAL: 
 *	Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. 
 *	The Night I Disappeared, by Julie Reece Deaver. 
 *	Not As Crazy As I Seem, by George Harrar. 
 *	Impulse, by Ellen Hopkins. 
 *	Silent to the Bone, by E.L. Konigsburg. 
 *	Checkers, by John Marsden. 
 *	The Only Alien on the Planet, by Kristen D. Randle. 
 *	Black-Eyed Susie, by Susan Shaw.