Like her poetry, Sapphire's prose is tough, tough, tough but beautiful and strong. Her first novel, "Push," which became the Academy Award-winning movie, "Precious," is about an obese HIV-positive teenage girl who has been abused by her mother and raped repeatedly by her father.
Her first baby has Down syndrome and is being raised elsewhere, and now she is pregnant with a second.
It is tragedy upon cruelty upon heartbreaking injustice.
In the end, though, there was hope, as she found a mentor, learned to read, and discovered the power and beauty of poetry. She set out to raise her infant son, Abdul, and earn her GED.
Now that infant boy is grown, and now comes the sequel, "The Kid," which pubs Sunday. It doesn't look to be any easier than "Push"--Abdul is orphaned at nine and, according to the book description, is "forced to confront unspeakable violence, his history, and the dark corners of his own heart."
Sapphire is on book tour this month and will be making a stop in Minneapolis. You can see her at 7:30 p.m. July 15 at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.
