and you think your life is bad?

 Precious is a movie based on the novel Push by Sapphire. Yes it is one of those stories where you watch the movie, fall in love and read the novel it is based off. This story really caught my attention about a 16 year old girl who struggles with obesity, constantly raped by her father, abused by mother, and illiterate strives in the New York City ghetto of Harlem. Already given birth to a Downs Syndrom girl, Claireece P. "Precious" Jones, becomes pregnant with her second child Abdul (give of God) by her father and is still in Junior High at 16. She barely makes it to class everyday, never reads a book, never flips a page.
       "But I couldn't let him, anybody, know, page 122 look like page 152, 22, 3, 6, 5, -- all the pages look alike to me. 'N I really do want to learn."
Being invisible was easy for Precious, but it took its toll. Drove her crazy, everyday not knowing what difference between right and wrong. Eventually she was kicked out due to her bad reputation with school and lets face it, what school..Middle School.. would keep a 16 year old student with the discovery of a 2nd child on the way?
Not only does she have troubles in school, but in her small apartment living with her dysfunctional and abusive momma is absolute hell. Suffering long-term physical, sexual, and mental abuse from her unemployed mother she is forced to cook, eat, and eat. There was no way out of it, just had to do what she said or pay the price of an unexpected pan injury in the head. Her mother accuses and hate Precious because she "stole" her husband from her since he would rather have sex with Precious instead of her.
To continue her education, Precious is enrolled in an alternative school Each One Teach One. She enlists in the Pre-GED class where the goal is to help students learn the basic skill to move on to the regular GED class. In her time there, she learns there are people who care and love her. Only want what is best. The teacher behind all this magic is Ms Rain, who has a passion to drive each of her students in improving their reading and writing skills. Keeping a journal was her way of letting each one of them to express and write whatever they want as long as they were writing something everyday.
The style of this novel has strong dialect. Not necessarily using exuberant and advanced words but the "ghetto" talk told from Precious' point of view. She is believable and makes me realize bad things do happen to people. We take for granted for all the things we have. I can't imagine being put in her shoes, she has my deepest and greatest thoughts.  After reading Push I feel like I should go out and do something positive and uplifting because the novel was so intense.
Precious had triumphed her problems by:

        -having a desire for the better
        - experiencing genuine affection
        - finding a way out and started a new life
        - taking risks and tried something new even though it was scary
        - gaining the courage to speak whats on her mind
        - realizing the abuse she suffered wasn't her fault
        - really appreciating the things she was given and never gave up on herself