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I Challenge You to Read a Banned Book

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Cut, by Patricia McCormick

Cut, by Patricia McCormick

Today Deanna Knippling posted a list of banned books, highlighted the ones she’s read and her top ten, then asked how many her readers have read. I was surprised and delighted to find that I’ve read at least twenty-five (probably more because the entire Goosebumps series was banned and I read a lot of those as a kid), but amazed to find that there are many I’ve never heard of or have heard of and have yet to read.

This week, it’s my mission to stop at the library and check out a book from this list. I’ve decided to read Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. From its description, it sounds similar to The Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Awakening by Kate Chopin. I challenge you to choose and read a banned book from De’s list this week, too, and also to read my post on the danger of banning books from last year’s Banned Books week.

If you’re stuck on a book to choose, check out some of the banned books I’ve reviewed:

How many banned books have you read? Leave me a comment and tell me how many and which were your favorites!

Review | Cut, by Patricia McCormick

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I finished Cut (by Patricia McCormick) last night. Altogether, I think it took me maybe an hour or two to read (it’s only 151 pages). If you haven’t yet, please check out the video review I did when I was about fifty pages in.

Cut by Patricia McCormick

Cut by Patricia McCormick

Cut is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Callie who is sent to a therapeutic residential treatment facility when her cutting addiction is discovered. The book chronicles her sessions with her therapist, the interactions she has with the other girls in her group, and her thoughts and feelings about her family and home life. The story is told in the first-person, present tense, which I thought was perfect for this novel.

My favorite line from the book is on page 125:

“I may not want to get rid of my scars,” I say finally. … “They tell a story,” I say.

I think this statement capture’s Callie’s inner strength perfectly, and the pages before it perfectly depict the inner turmoil of feelings that one can have towards one’s self-inflicted scars.

Patricia McCormick — as I said in my video — researched and wrote this novel for three years. It shows. She really knows her stuff. She didn’t just dig up facts about self-injury and then slap them down in the form of a story. She took what she had learned and wound them into a story that is so real, so beautiful, anyone who has ever struggled with self-injury will be able to identify with it and take away hope from it.

I give this novel two freaking thumbs up. Have you read it? What did you think about it?