Cutting Class

by Magenta Periwinkle, Keli Chaffin

Cutting Class begins with P.B. initials short for PonyBoy, named after the famous book that his mother was once obsessed with. P.B. is very angry, and partly blames this on his father having been in prison for P.B.'s entire life. His mother refuses to talk about why his father is in prison for murder, an act that his father committed when he was 18, the age that P.B. will soon be, so P.B. finds his mother's journals from when she was 15 and begins to read them in hopes that it will help him understand how he ended up a fatherless kid. The journals portray the tragic love story of his unpopular parents in the public school system, where his mother is a loner who talks to no one, and his father is a cute book worm who all the girls fawn over, but who has an angry side that is soon pushed to its limits by the high school football team. P.B. is nothing like his father, he is in fact a star member of his schools football team and quite popular, at least until he starts pursuing Pixie, the school token "weird girl". Maybe father and son are not that different.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Teen, Romance

174 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2011

About the author

Magenta Periwinkle is the pseudonym for Keli Chaffin. She lives in Texas with her three cats and hopes to someday own a monkey. Keli has two useless bachelor's degrees, one in Photography and one in Psychology. She works in a psychologist office and thinks she has some idea about the workings of the human psyche.

Reviews

[Kwoomac]

Goodreads freebie. This story was filled with tragic figures. First, we have Johnny Boy. Johnny's mother is the school librarian, who is known to all to be a whore. She was raped as a young girl by her own father. Johnny's father, unbeknownst to him, is his grandfather. His mother has protected him from this info by telling him his father was a soldier who died in Afghanistan. The father/grandfather, in addition to being a pedophile, was also an arsonist. While in prison for arson, he killed himself by setting himself on fire. This is more info Johnny Boy's mother has not shared with him. It is somewhat hard to believe that in a small town Johnny doesn't here about his grandfather from others. The story is partly told through the journal Johnny Boy's mother kept while she was in high school. I particularly liked these journal entries. They were so full of the extremes and drama typical of a teenage girl. I smiled while reading them, it was so easy to see this girl full of romantic dreams. Johnny Boy has spent 17 years in prison for arson and murder. It is not 'til the end of the book, that the reader learns the truth about the fire.
The main characters in the present time are Pony Boy (child of Johnny Boy) and a girl he goes to high school with, Pixie. Pony Boy is an angry boy, who grew up without knowing his father at all. While he did know about his father, his mother never brough in to prison to visit his father, until the week before his father was released form prison. His mother finally introduced father and son because she is dying of breast cancer. Pony Boy is seventeen. Pixie is the daughter of Meghan, another tragic figure. Meghan was a beautiful girl in high school, popular, a cheer leader. Meghan survived the fire that killed her boyfriend Ducky. She was pregnant with Pixie (birth name Calliope) at the time. She suffered major burns. Her response to this was to become a drinker. She has been married and divorced six times and spends her nights with an endless series of lovers. She pays little attention to her daughter. Pixie and Pony Boy are in the early stages of a relationship, when PB's father gets out of jail. The two stories are told alternately, with both building toward a crescendo. This is where we learn the true story of the fire Johnny Boy went to jail for. We also learn how Pony Boy will deal with everything going on in his life; his budding relationship with Pixie, his mother's dying, and his father's new role in his life.
This was a book full of lost souls. I was rooting for them to find their way.

[Stephanie]

I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I believe that this book was an advance copy, explaining the grammatical errors (incorrect words in place of the right ones, i.e. too instead of to), which was a little distracting for someone like me (I'm a teacher and those kind of things drive me crazy), but that's not relevant.

The basic premise and story line is good, but the way things tended to bounce around was distracting from the story. There was continual change in the point of view and topics, sometimes making it difficult to remember who was speaking and about what. The bold face entries made it clear when P.B.'s mom is writing about her high school experience and romance with P.B's father Johnny, but the parts of the book written in the present day were constantly changing point of views, which took away from the story.

I enjoyed the premise and story, but the way it was told kind of turned me off to it. I think if the storytelling was improved, it would make a world of difference.

Thank you for the chance to read it though!

[Georgia]

There were a lot of typo's. Enough to the point where i could point them out. This book was really interesting, but had a dark almost creepy undertone. The point of views were hard to tell apart, and if felt like there should have had a bigger way to tell the difference between the 8 different POV's. Through the whole book, they didnt say Pony Boy's mother's name. I thought that was different, but made me really confused. I was hoping to learn it in the end, but i never did. I didnt get any good explanations of people. I still barely know who Ducky is, we didnt learn about him. There were so many different plot twists and changes, i couldnt keep track. I had to keep stopping and trying to make sense of everything. I didnt know why Ducky started the fire, or what was wrong with him. Overall, the idea of the book was nice, but it was so badly written, I couldnt look over that, and most of the time i cant tell if a book was badly written, but this was so bad from the second it started.

[Vicky]

Well this book is definitely an interesting read. Before i comment on the story though i just want to say that there was a lot of typos. The story is completely different to anything i expected, in a good way. What happens surprises you and its believable and intensely emotional. You feel connected to the characters and the story reads well although it is a little confusing sometimes. Overall i enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it as its not the usual sappy love story written for the YA group.

[Amy]

If you've read the other reviews then you already know about the abundance of grammatical errors which were at times distracting (I wanted to get out my red pen and start proofreading myself!) but thankfully the story moved along quickly. It was emotional and raw and felt real. I loved how the ending linked all the characters up. There was a lot of POVs and time lines going on at once which could get a bit confusing but on the other hand it was interesting to get insight on so many characters. Overall a great "one-day" read.

[Caitlyn]

Oddly enough, I loved it! Books like these I generally call my "escape books," these are books I read to escape for a minute and allow myself to enjoy teenage literature. Though it was riddled with error, I fell in love and was hooked for the ride :) I would suggest it, but know: it is depressing! It only took me an hour, two tops, to finish it though! That was nice :)

[Nyie Rombeng]

mengeksplor & menghadirkan cerita yang "tak biasa",cutting class merupakan psychological thriller yang subyektif.
para karakternya yang eksentrik mempunyai pandangan tersendiri akan arti aksi"bunuh".cerita cutting class bukan untuk dinikmati sepenuhnya,karena ini sisi lain dari sugesti pikiran,jadi cenderung membingungkan tentunya.inilah arti dari pesan cerita"cutting clss"

[Ryan Lucero]

I love books about teens on the edge and a little messed up. The story about the parents, fascinating.
The character development is admirable and it makes you wonder what is going on in the mind of the author that would inspire this story.

[Haydon 806]

A little confusing at first, but as you read on, the story unfolds. Great story about a relationship that escalates to their kids. Characters live in constant fear and worry, confusion and dramatic emotions, and ends in one simple touching line. "I will always love you "

[✦BookishlyRichie✦]

Had the day off of work and I shot through this book like crazy.
FULL REVIEW TO COME.

[Jessie]

this book was different, I liked it. wish it would've been longer though.

[Lacey]

neat twist, interesting layout. it got a bit confusing because the text was supposed to be in italics for certain parts but didn't stay that way throughout.

[Melissa Gibson]

I liked the story, but there were numerous grammatical errors and then it just sort of ended. There needed to be at least another chapter.

[Jessica Hinzman]

I am really digging the thing that this character says in this book mothers really creative and all her love the way the author writes certain little things in here with her characters

[Magenta Periwinkle]

So, once again I will break the moral code and write my own review just like I did for Sentimental Bulls#*t.

Half the novel is about Johnny who doesn't talk to many people, so when he taps the shoulder of a girl in math class and asks her "Do you like monkeys?" it is a big deal. Johnny's home life sucks and all he wants is to stay out of trouble, and yet, he keeps finding himself with fighting the captain of the school football team, who used to be his best friend. The girl Johnny likes, carries around a worn copy of the Outsiders, and Johnny can't help but hide his new relationship with her.

The second part of the book is about P.B. (named after PonyBoy from the Outsiders), I wonder who his parents are?

[Lizzy Marie]

This was the first time I read a story formatted like this. The future and then the past and then back again. I loved hearing the story of these two characters and how "best friend romance" it sounded. The story was realistic yet not. I loved how the author left some of the traits of the characters for you to decide. I always have flashbacks to this story in my life. (If you're worried about the "cutting" part, it's almost non existent in the book) I would recommend it if you're interested in something new, short, and sweet.

[Jenna]

The premise of this book was good but I was very annoyed with the grammatical mistakes as well as the timeline issues. Half the book was written as diary of the main character, Pony Boys' (P.B.'s) mother. Her story took place in 1994 and I found many things inaccurate, including referencing the internet multiple times as well as digital cameras, posting videos online, and Jessica Simpson. These references are inaccurate for the 1994 setting and I found the story to be less believable. I also felt the book was unfinished and the back and forth between narrative was quite confusing.

[Tessa]

This was one of the most disappointing books I've read. The story itself was so intriguing and had so much potential but the execution wasn't what it could have been.

I guess my biggest problem is the dialogue. People speak in contractions, but through this whole book nobody says anything that sounds even slightly natural. Considering that dialogue plays a huge role in this book, that was a major let down.

[Bevin]

What did I read. Seriously,what did I just subject myself to??
This has been sitting in my kindle for so long, and I'm really hoping I did not pay money for this atrocious thing.
The writing was beyond bad; why does it jump from narrator to narrator in the middle of a paragraph? Was there no editor to explain that spelling is key? To teach grammar?
This could have been a decent story, but it wasn't.

[Amanda]

Overall, i loved the story. But i HATED the ending!

[Danielle Breen]

Great book

Love this book so much. very on edge book that makes you keep reading and not put the book down

[Bethanne Hauser]

I liked the book and how it explained both the lives of P.B and pixie and the journals to know the lives of their parents. I hated how abrupt the ending was though.

[Tajah]

OMG I just finished reading "The Outsiders" which is where the name Ponyboy comes from.

[Lavargna]

Hmmm

Hmmm

The ending felt incomplete.. like going up the big windy road to fall off a cliff half way through. quick read though.

[Bree Lowry]

It was difficult to read due to the editing errors, but it was an amazing and creative story. It was original and kept you on your toes. I love it.

[Christina Azalea]

confused

It took me a while to read the book but I actually finished it to the point where I realize that the book was pointless to me

[Ryan]

The storyline was a mess. I couldn't keep focus on one thing because so much was happening. It seemed rushed and all too fast. Could've gone better if the time line was better.

[De Donde]

Leer alimenta las neuronas y las nuevas ideas

[alex buchanan]

this book was pretty good the ending though like most books left me with a lot of questions

[Destini]

boring