Cut

Callie has stopped talking. She lives at Sea Pines, a residential treatment center the other girls call Sick Minds, where she sits through group therapy in silence while her counselor waits for her to say even one word. Callie narrates the book to that counselor, walking through her family, her younger brother's illness, and the pressure that built until she found her own private way to feel in control. As other girls at the center share their struggles with food and addiction, Callie slowly inches toward speaking. McCormick keeps the focus on the emotions beneath the behavior rather than the behavior itself, building toward the quiet, enormous moment when Callie finally chooses to be heard.