Cut

 

Author: Patrica McCormick

Title: Cut

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

McCormick, Patricia. Cut. Scholastic, 2011.

 

Grade Level: 10^th Grade

Pages: 151 pages

Cut by Patrica McCormick is a moving novella that focuses on themes of mental illnesses. It is written from the perspective of 15-year-old Callie, who finds herself committed to Sea Pines, a residential treatment facility. Callie must find her voice and confront the trauma she has experienced in her life in order to finally understand why she cuts herself.

Possible Teaching Concerns:

This novella deals with very mature themes that could be disturbing and triggering to some readers. Concerns that I would have when teaching this novella are the parts of the story when the narrator describes the need or the action of cutting herself. She talks about feelings of worthlessness which are very disheartening for the reader to read. I think that when teaching this novella, the teacher should be very aware of the effects that this could have on students. I would not allow students to read this novella on their own. I think it is important that teachers are able to guide constructed and knowledgeable discussion of the topic, and also take the time to be aware of how this novella is effecting their students. Since these themes could be triggering for other students who face similar issues, it is vital that teachers are aware of their students and continuously checking in on them to prevent relapses in students and to keep tab on their mental health.

Personal Reactions:

Although this novel is a hard novel to read, I believe it is necessary. Obviously, I don't believe that this is a novella to read in every class. I think that teachers should be aware of their students and their maturity and make a decision to teach this novella based on whether or not they believe that this novella would be beneficial to the class. The themes in this story are hard, but they are also real life. I think that it is important that these conversations are talked about in school and in the classroom. Just this year, I have known two people who have lost their lives to suicide. Unfortunately, I knew countless others who lost their lives while I was still in middle school and high school. As someone who has struggled with mental health, I feel that bringing thoughtful conversation about mental health in the classroom would save countless lives and would also bring awareness that this is a real issue and these are real people who suffer from these terrible illnesses. I think that this topic is something that needs to be talked about in the schools, and I think this novella does it beautiful. Again, I believe this novella should be read as a class with teacher supervision, not for students to pick up on their own.

Canonical Work: 

Stilling thinking of Canonical Work