Dear Sapphire

I read your book Push. I thought that it was very touching and sad. I later saw the movie and it was also very good. The movie only made Precious’s story broader. Your book made me realize that it is okay to be a kid for a while and to not rush into to growing up ;it also made me realize even if I may not like my parents at times, I can always go to them if I need them and that they would not abuse me or hurt me anyway.

The character I can mostly relate to is Jermaine. I understand that she did not have a big role in the story, but at the end of a book her own personal story was touching. Her story brought tears to my eyes. Jermaine’s life in one perspective is nowhere near close to being relatable to mine, but in another way it is. I understand when she was younger not really knowing who she was and not knowing why she was the way she was. Then later embracing what she was. I feel sorry that she has to deal with such traumatic things. That happened to her. What she has faced in her life no one should ever have to go through. I congratulate her on her courage to not let that affect her anymore. Also, her mom was not helping in this situation. For some reason our moms are a lot alike in that situation. They make a bad situation worse when they put their two cents in. Our mothers are God fearing women, and this sometimes can get out of hand. It seems as though she takes things too seriously. She thinks it is her job to tell everybody their sins and like in your book, they agree to disagree that everybody is different.
There are things in life I think I will never understand. I don’t understand why adults have kids and then don’t try to be the best parents that they can be. Most of the kids in Precious’s class are there because of their parent. The way I see it is if their parents were there for them emotionally and physically, they would not have been in that predicament. They would have probably graduated high school and had a good job or career.
Precious to me is a survivor. I say this because honestly I could not have stayed in that house with her mother. I do not know what I would have done by now. I would probably be emotionally messed up or truthfully in jail because I couldn’t take the abuse anymore. It is kind of sad that her father had to rape her, give her two kids, and HIV. That is a sorry excuse for a father. I’m happy for her that she got away after she had her Abdul. I am proud that she took on her motherly duties for her children. Even though her kids were products of rape, she did not see them that way. When I was reading the book, there was a part of the book where her mom was yelling at her. This part made me really angry and upset because the mom was saying things about Precious stealing her husband. Actually it was her mom let all those things happen. Honestly, I think that things were stolen from Precious. She had her virginity taken and her childhood she never had a regular childhood from what I can tell.

Ms. Sapphire your book took on a big role in my life. It showed me how fortunate I am for having a childhood. Some of the characters did not have one; they had to hurry up and grow up. Your book also gave me something to connect my life to. Your book gave me hope in weird way. It made me see that stories can have a happy ending; it may not be a happily-ever-after but it can be a good ending.


Sincerely,

Sadarie