Book Review: “The Kid” by Sapphire
I remembered being floored and astounded by the verbal dexterity and the heartbreaking story of “Push,” the 1996 novel by Sapphire, which was later made into the movie “Precious.” So I was looking forward to reviewing her follow-up, called “The Kid.”
Here is the review I did for the Associated Press:
Follow-up to `Push’ provokes, disappoints
By Monica Rhor, For the Associated Press
“The Kid” (The Penguin Press), by Sapphire: At the end of “Push,” the heartbreaking 1996 novel that introduced the character of Precious, baby Abdul represents a glimmer of hope amid the grim landscape of the main character’s troubled life.
“When the sun shine on him like this, he is an angel child. Brown sunshine,” the HIV-positive Precious muses as she holds her son and wonders how much time she will have with him.
In “The Kid,” author Sapphire picks up Abdul’s story about nine years later. His mother has just died, leaving the young boy confused, angry and alone – a state that will shroud him through the entire novel.
Abdul is quickly thrust into the dark, often cruel, labyrinth of the child welfare system, landing first in a chaotic and violent foster home, then in a Catholic boys’ orphanage where he is promised refuge, but is instead subjected to sexual abuse masquerading as love.
Through a first-person narrative that floats indiscriminately among dream, memory and reality, Abdul – known alternately as J.J., Jamal, Arthur and Crazy Horse – describes his harrowing journey through childhood and his desperate search for identity and salvation.