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The Kid by Sapphire, Penguin Press, 07/05/ 2011, 384 pages, $25.95
ISBN-10: 1594203040
ISBN-13: 978-1594203046

Sapphire is the author of the bestselling novel Push and two collections of poetry.

The Kid is by far the most disturbing novel I have ever read. When we first meet Abdul, he is nine and it is the occasion of his mother’s funeral. His mother was the main character Precious of the landmark novel Push. She has died of AIDS and her son is orphaned. It is a beginning that would seem to hint nothing worse could possibly happen to this child and yet, each time in this tragic book that Abdul seems to sink to his lowest point something even more horrendous drags him further into the abyss.
In many ways the story of Abdul Jones seems unreal, but it is gritty and devastating and a sad social commentary on many things such as child welfare, not only in the neighbourhood of Harlem. Sadly, while I believe Sapphire may have exaggerated character and plot to make a point, his story for an Aids orphan in America is probably not that far off the mark.
While it appears initially to the boy that he might, in his confused state, be taken into the care of his mother’s friend, Rita, a woman he calls Aunt, the social services system quickly puts an end to that childish naivete. The foster home he is moved to is horrific beyond description and from there on Abdul, also known as J.J., travels deeper into a hellish cycle of physical and sexual abuse that seems unending. Abdul is moved like a pawn through so many homes and institutions it becomes dehumanizing to say the least. Eventually he is moved to a school, run by Catholic Brothers, and he begins to blossom as a young intelligent soul who has had some hard breaks and yet, naturally he is targeted for abuse again and again. It is here that he grows large enough physically, and tortured enough mentally to become warped into a predator as well.
The Kid is another brave novel, just as Push was. But what happens here in this novel when the topic is male violence and male abuse and the abused turns into abuser, well it is beyond pushing the envelope, it is alienating and much too challenging for most. This character is one of the most tragic and complex characters I have ever encountered. While Precious had much that was redeeming and seemed to triumph at least spiritually over circumstances, with her writing, J.J., Abdul, Precious’ son, has an artistic side too. He is however unable to make it the tool to move past that which has been done to him. He is quite a bright young student full of potential, but that too makes him a target, prey for others.
Fifteen years after the publication of Push, after the Academy Award-winning film adaptation, Sapphire breathes the son to life. This is a sequel that is graphic and brave. It is compelling even as you want to throw it down in disgust. Sapphire’s style is still brilliant and gritty and urban, borrowing heavily on Virginia Woolf’s stream of consciousness technique. At times, when Abdul is claimed by a distant grandmother of sorts, it is difficult to tell where dream or story begins and ends. The Kid is not a novel I would recommend to many outside the field of child welfare. It is the most brutal coming of age story imaginable.

This is a frightening and harsh read. $$$ out of $$$$$. Not as memorable as Precious in Push.

It is quite unusual for me to choose a young adult book to read or review for that matter. But something about this one tweaked my interest when shopping at Chapters/Indigo recently and as a result it has changed my whole reading perspective. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson came recommended by a staffer named Emily as you can see here. It also has garnered more awards than most authors accumulate in a lifetime of writing volumes of novels. This young adult book is one of the most compelling character studies I have seen since reading The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold. (a new movie currently in theatres based on the bestseller. In Speak, the narrator is a young girl starting high school. Melinda Sordino, selectively mute, has stopped communicating in any meaningful way since she broke up a summer party by calling the cops. All of her friends hate her since she ruined the summer’s biggest social event. While most readers will probably be able to guess at the reasons behind the phone call, the author doesn’t reveal the details until a crucial point in the book. Melinda is traumatized, depressed and anxious. She slowly reveals details of why and how she came to be non responsive and disenfranchised from her parents and her former friends. Halse Anderson has done a remarkable job recreating the truly awful awkwardness of early grade nine and the strange but real high school environment. A mother of teenagers at the time she wrote this novel, she captures details with a wonderful mix of humour and pain, always realistically conveying atmosphere, setting and dialogue. Melinda is failing or flailing in most of her subjects. She is depressive to everyone except her parents, who do not stop working or admonishing her poor academic performance long enough to figure out what truly might be happening with their daughter. This is a sad, brave, book because it deals with mental illness and violence. But Speak is also ultimately a hopeful story that chooses to pull back the curtain that shields people from seeing mental illness as something that affects young people. Melinda’s high school is a place of refuge and terror, an escape and a prison. “The art room is one of the places I feel safe. I hum and don’t worry about looking stupid.” This is a book I will keep for my daughters to read when they are old enough to read it (I would estimate 12 and up). Speak conveys a powerful message about voice and truth, safety and the complex world of contemporary teenagers. It is precise and unflinching and it has opened my eyes to another genre of novel and the fact that there are some truly amazing authors writing young adult fiction.

thriftymommastips review $$$$$ our of $$$$$.
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is published by Penguin USA, 1999.
198 pages. $14 Canadian and $10 USA.