'Push' by Sapphire

Push, Sapphire (3.5)

Many people have seen the award winning yet painful-to-watch movie, ‘Precious’ which was based on this book. As expected, the book is even more painful to read. While you know in your head that some kids are subjected (by parents, no less) to horrible, unspeakable acts of violence; it is another thing to read the details of these acts as a young woman recalls them. As the main character, Clarisse Precious Jones, tells her story, you feel the kernel of her person is buried so deep under a blanket of ignorance, that it’s hard to understand what will emerge once the blanket is lifted.  She begins with such a narrow and skewed understanding of family, school and society that I found the part of ‘blanket lifting’ was not explained well enough to believe the kernel could be revealed. I do believe a great poet could come from someone with that much pain, once her voice emerged. I believe the beginning (the first nurturing adult in her life teaches her to read), but I didn’t see enough in the journey to make the rest of the hard part believable. Oddly, if this had been a true story – as horrible as that would be to imagine – I would have enjoyed it more.