Precious: Packs a punch

Push by Sapphire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Knowing that the movie "Precious" was about to come out, I decided to read the book first.

This powerful, short novel packs a punch. Precious Jones starts out life being raped by both of her parents, never knowing that her life had any value. At the age of 16, pregnant with her father's second baby, she gets kicked out of traditional school (junior high school) and enrolls in an alternative school, where she learns to read...from scratch.

As Precious learns to read and write about her life, she discovers her own value and comes to realize that what her parents did to her was completely wrong. Some have labeled this story as "poverty porn," but this kind of thing happens far more often than we want to acknowledge. Most of her friends have experienced some form of sex (mostly rape) far too early in life.

Precious finds great meaning in "The Color Purple" and resonates with the life of Celie. "Push" is like a modern-day "The Color Purple." She finds her voice and she realizes her life is precious.

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