Precious Based on the novel Push By Sapphire

 

Precious

Based on the novel Push

By Sapphire

Precious Jones is an overweight, illiterate, pregnant, sixteen-year-old high school freshman with HIV who has been living with abuse at the hands of her parents. She is an incest survivor from both parents, and also has a child from her father who impregnated her with the second. Though she is brought down by her parents and her welfare-state life, her weight, and the verbal abuse she receives every day from her peers, Precious has an innate desire to learn in this book she finds the way to do that. She is determined to get herself into a better situation for her unborn child and possibly for her other daughter ,who has Downs Syndrome and is in the care of her grandmother.

After she is expelled from her school because she is pregnant, despite receiving praise form some of her teachers and getting good grades, Precious joins an alternative education program in order to bring her reading and writing skills up to par to be able to enter a GED program. There, she meets a group of other girls who come from all sorts of neglectful backgrounds and a teacher who all give her the belief she desperately needs in herself, and the love she has longed for. With their encouragement and help, Precious finds that she can make a way for herself despite all of the odds that are stacked against her.

This was a great story. I really felt for Precious and rooted for her. Her parents were despicable human beings who used her and abused her, and I wanted to see them suffer. The writing was excellent, raw, and unflinching with a unique style and voice. The plot was simple, but the story is all about the character of Precious, how she sees herself, and how she changes with the one thing we all need: love. I'm giving Precious 4 stars.