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The Kid

2011 The Kid_IMG_0334.jpg

New York Times bestseller.

 

A story of survival and awakening—and one young man’s remarkable strength The Kid brings us deep into the interior life of Abdul Jones, son of Sapphire’s unforgettable heroine, Precious. Left alone by his mother’s death to navigate in a world where 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. 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 artists’ lofts, The Kid is a soaring tale of body and spirit, rooted in the hungers of flesh and of the soul.

Paperback | $17.00
Published by Penguin Books
June 26, 2012

ISBN 9780143121206

Purchase

Readers Guide

“Sapphire has taken the challenges her Kid faces and distilled htem into a devasting voice, demanding and raw...an accomplished work of art.”

Los Angeles Times

“The breathtaking velocity

and visceral power of her

prose soars off the page.”

The Guardian (London)

“[Sapphire] remains fearlessly committed to telling uncomfortable truths...like Push, The Kid is deeply moving and unflinching.”

Essence

“[Sapphire] writes with a

burning anger that

gives this novel

explosive power.”

The Times (London)

“There's no way around this:

The Kid can be tough to read...

But put it down and

Abdul's voice calls one back, demanding that

attention must be paid.”

Chicago Tribune 

“That's the genius of Sapphire's writing: Abdul, like Precious, while not a monster like his grandmother, Mary, is both a victim and an oppressor... We want to shake him by the shoulders when he is at his worst, but we never want to give up on him.”

Buffalo News

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