#7 of 2012: Precious by Sapphire
Broke my heart, that’s what this book did. For someone named Precious, her life wasn’t very much treasured by her parents nor her self. It was depressing how a lot of monstrous things had happened to her - like getting pregnant by her father TWICE, getting beaten by her abusive mother, not having been taught properly in school, being put down by people from her school. I know the world is cruel and these are what are exactly happening in many parts of the world, but really, it crushed my heart to have found out that Precious didn’t even know how to spell, let alone read! I, who have been reading most my life, just CANNOT imagine that. I automatically pledged to encourage or teach at least one person a month to read and appreciate the magic of letters put together to form words and sentences and meanings. And, of course, this novel, interestingly written in Harlem language (I don’t know what else to call it), would be high up in the recommendation list.
Yay!s
-As every story needs a hero, I was ever glad to see that a teacher, in the form of Ms. Rain or Blue as she liked to be called, was who Sapphire choose to play this.
-The life stories of Precious and her classmates in pre-GED class compiled at the end of the novel was a treat. Not in that ice-cream treat way, but sort of in a lighting-bulb way.
Boo!
-I ALWAYS root for a happy ending in stories so I was a bit down when I got to the end of this and found no closure of how Precious life turned out for the better.
