I've seen many a middle school student reading Push (1996) by Sapphire. This novel is disturbing and raw...definitely, in my opinion, not for the reading pleasure of sensationalism-hungry adolescents. The book was recommended to me by a colleague during my second year of teaching. I found that the end of the novel suggested that siempre hay esperanza (there's always hope) and that we as teachers sometimes take the magnitude of our impact lightly. Sapphire also reminds readers through her dark and unapologetic prose that there's always someone out there who has it worse than you do! Educators who aren't touched and affected by this novel shouldn't be teaching.But then again, the drive, fortitude and determination of Sapphire's heroine who is an illiterate, morbidly obese, HIV positive sexual and physical abuse victim pregnant by her father for the second time, is rare with your average middle school teen. Hence, they shouldn't be reading the text if they aren't mature and literacy-savvy enough to appreciate the author's message and purpose. Well with all that said, I CAN'T WAIT for the film version to be released. Directed by Lee Daniels, who is probably known best for producing Monster's Ball, Push was screened at Sundance last month and won the most awards (3) of all the entries. Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry have green lit the distribution. There's already talk of an Oscar nomination for comedienne Mo'Nique. Yes, you read that correctly. Word is that she's phenomenal as the abusive mother. Let's just hope it comes out sooner than later.
