Push by Sapphire

My latest read is Push by Sapphire. Yes, it was made into a movie called "Precious" and no, I haven't seen it. I'm not sure what compelled me to pick up this book. Like The Help, it's not my type of book. First, it's non-fiction and two, I only knew this book was about a fat black girl (no offense, but seriously - that's all I knew). Nonetheless, I checked it out along with Ayn Rand's Anthem (yes, much more my speed. Love dytopia!).

I'm a little over halfway through Push. I didn't realize how foul it was going to be. The language used is just as bad as what is happening to Precious - a father who rapes her (and of whom she has two children by by time time she is 16 years old), a mother who basically rapes, beats, and forcefeeds her, and a world which systematically doesn't care what happens to her. In fact, maybe that's the issue I have with this book. 12 years old, she's in the hospital after delivering her baby, and she tells the nurse that the father of her baby is HER OWN FATHER and this guy doesn't end up in jail? Seriously?! Yeah, that's a serious plot hole.

But on a teacher level, I love this book. I love Ms. Rain who teaches Precious to read and write. I find it interesting how she uses the idea of a journal to build confidence in her students, who come from horrible, horrible homes (or streets as the case may be). And I wonder if I can somehow utilize this when I'm teaching my students...writing to build confidence, to comment and help students not only write but build character.

My next post will probably be my full review and rating of this novel.