Push, By Sapphire

Push Book Review

Push is a fiction novel written by Sapphire, who is the author of other books and poems such as: American Dreams, Black Wings and Blind Angels and many others. This book was published in New York, 1996 by Alfred A. Knopf. Due to the graphic situations and vulgar language throughout the book readers should be at least 13 years old and up. Some of the events are a bit too graphic for children to read but they are realistic events that everyone should be aware of. Sapphire is an African American author and poet of books such as American Dreams, and Black WIngs and Blind Angels. Born as Ramona Lofton on August 4th, 1950. Her work has appeared in The New York Times magazine, The Black Scholar, and many other notable sources.

Many times throughout the book, Precious finds herself having flash backs of these events which only leave her with one question: “why me?”. Numerous times she she asks herself why no one stopped him, or why she has to have her mother for a mother. At one point in the story she states how she wants to say she doesn’t know who the father of her children is but, can’t do that because she knows who the father is, it’s her own. It wasn’t until Precious began writing in her journal that she comes face to face with her demons and begins to shed light on them. The more she talks about it, the less she feels as though that’s all she is good for; being sexually abused. An external conflict in this book would be the physical and verbal abuse Precious receives from her mother, and the struggle she faces with continuing her education. Ever since Precious could remember, her mother has physically and mentally abused her throughout her childhood and her young adult life. “Pain hit me again, then she it me I’m on the floor groaning… then she KICK me side of me face” [sic] (Sapphire 9). In the beginning of the book this was the most recent time her mother beat her; when she was pregnant with her first child at the age of 12. After the baby was born the beatings continued, “Mama slap me, HARD. Then she pick up a cat iron skillet, thank god it was no grease in it, and she hit me so hard on back I fall on floor” [sic] (Sapphire 19). Due her to jealousy, Mary not only beats her daughter but, also verbally degrades