Review of Push

http://www.examiner.com/review/review-push-by-sapphire

This is a (predictably) positive review of Push by Sapphire. The review is written by Alex Sorondo, who has a career in book reviews.

The primary item of praise presented is the author's control over her narrative voice: the story is presented from Precious Williams' point of view, and the change in the writing style as she becomes more educated and her circumstances improve is noticeable. Sorondo notes that this is an unusual move, and praises Sapphire's bravery in challenging the readers with such an unconventional style.

In a similar way, he praises the transgressive content of the book, such as the multiple sexual assaults Precious suffers at the hands of both her parents. Sorondo relates this to his previous point - the experiences, conveyed through the unique narrative voice of Precious, are more affecting in his opinion than they would be told normally.

It is interesting that most of the praise lavished on this book is for its bravery in being unconventional, in particular for its covering of sensitive topics relating to race. The acknowledgement of the existence of such issues, then, is clearly an issue in the mainstream American population. Still, the fact that a book covering the issues can become so successful may mean a shift towards awareness of these problems.