I have just finished reading the novel Push by Sapphire, recently made into a film called Precious after the main character and narrator.. She is an obese teenager being abused at home. Should you read the book or see the film? Definitely read the book. Although the film offers the opportunity to see Mariah Carey without her make up on, the story is about the transformative power of literacy - so read! There are many extraordinary things about the book that the film can't capture. It is written in a mispelt slang which makes you feel like you are in Harlem as well as giving an insight into how illiteracy might sound and feel (Down Syndrome is Down Sinder). There are poems, pictures, lists - even an alternative ABC (Q is for Queen Latifah). The final chapter is written as if by Precious' classmates who have equally traumatic and uplifting stories to tell. Push is also a better, though less obvious title than Precious. It is a reference to the fact that Precious has given birth twice and also her teacher's encouragements to 'push' herself. The author has no surname, leaving you to speculate about who she is and what her background is. I will hope to see the film as well though - to see a fat person in a star role is kind of a novelty in itself..
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