The Kid
A Novel
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3.1 • 132 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Fifteen years after the publication of Push, one year after the Academy Award-winning film adaptation, Sapphire gives voice to Precious's son, Abdul.
In The Kid bestselling author Sapphire tells the electrifying story of Abdul Jones, the son of Push's unforgettable heroine, Precious.
A story of body and spirit, rooted in the hungers of flesh and of the soul, The Kid brings us deep into the interior life of Abdul Jones. We meet him at age nine, on the day of his mother's funeral. Left alone to navigate a world in which love and hate sometimes hideously masquerade, forced to confront unspeakable violence, his history, and the dark corners of his own heart, Abdul claws his way toward adulthood and toward an identity he can stand behind.
In a generational story that moves with the speed of thought from a Mississippi dirt farm to Harlem in its heyday; from a troubled Catholic orphanage to downtown artist's lofts, The Kid tells of a twenty- first-century young man's fight to find a way toward the future. A testament to the ferocity of the human spirit and the deep nourishing power of love and of art, The Kid chronicles a young man about to take flight. In the intimate, terrifying, and deeply alive story of Abdul's journey, we are witness to an artist's birth by fire.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fifteen years and an Oscar-nominated movie adaptation have passed by since Push, and, with Precious long dead, Sapphire unfurls the story of her son, Jamal Abdul Louis Jones. Orphan Jamal winds up at a foster home where he's mocked and beaten to the point of having to be hospitalized. Fast forward, and Abdul, going by the name J.J., is at the St. Ailanthus School for boys, where he's sexually abused by priests and in turn sexually abuses a couple of boys at the school. When J.J. is thrown out of the school, he struggles to handle his own conflicting desires and the rigors of getting by in a tough world by himself, often with very little comprehension of consequences. J.J. is a great creation, if a sometimes frustrating one: Sapphire excels at getting readers into the head of a frightened, enraged, and frustrated wild child, but that isn't always the best vantage point from which to watch this heartbreaking story unfold. This is a sobering and unflinching study of the legacy of abuse, and while the narration can leave readers more puzzled than piqued, it's a harrowing story.
Customer Reviews
Good read
It really is a good read. Kind of in depth details. Wish the ending could been a lil better but overall it's a recommended book.
Going nowhere
The Book started out good however quickly delved into a confusing mess. Abdul, JJ, Jamal all one in the same goes in and out of fugue states throughout the book making it very hard to follow. It is difficult to discern reality from make believe events. Not at all a satisfying read the ending leaves you with confusion and wanting clarification while at the same time feeling relieved that it's over
Horrible
This book was horrible. It babbled on. The character was crazy or was it the Arthur who wrote it, that was crazy. I skipped many of pages trying to get a clear understanding of the book, that I just had to delete it off my phone. I say not to buy it. It is not worth it. I rated one star because I had to, otherwise I wouldn't have gave no stars