You say it's up to me to do the talking. You lean forward and your black leather chair groans, like a living thing. Like the cow it was before somebody killed it and turned it into a chair in a shrink's office in a loony bin...

Fifteen-year old Callie is so withdrawn that she's not speaking to anyone - including her therapist at Sea Pines, known to its guests as `Sick Minds' - the residential treatment facility where her parents and doctor send her after discovering that she cuts herself. Her story unfolds primarily through dramatic monologues, gradually revealing the family turmoil that led to her self-destructive behaviour.

This book has been graded for interest at 12-14 years.

There are 176 pages in this book. This book was published 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers .

Patricia McCormick is a writer and teacher of creative writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children. Cut is her first novel.