Precious

It's a good thing I decided to read something lighter first. Push by Sapphire was a tough read. I saw the movie Precious last month and knew going into the movie it would be tough to see. I'm a master's student in social work and lots of people were talking about this movie last quarter when it came out. The movie was tough to watch but for some reason the book was harder to read. Perhaps because seeing it on the screen you knew it was actors playing their role and nothing was really happening. In the book it was hard to remember this was a character. I guess this might be a compliment to the author who made it so real it was scary.

One of the most interesting things about the book to me is that it is written through Precious' perspective. It made it a little difficult to read through the spelling and grammar errors. It was interesting though because Precious was learning to read and as her reading skills improved the writing became easier to read. At times it felt like as the reader I was learning to read along with her. Many of the pages were hard to decipher just as they would be for a beginning reader. I again have to give the author credit for this creative way of placing the reader into the characters shoes.

As a social worker, the book was also interesting in seeing the character's extreme dislike of social workers. It gave me a reminder of viewing the system through the eyes of the clients and why so many of them have some trust issues or negative views with social workers involved.

Overall a heavy read but worth reading in the end.

Current Read: The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer