(May 27, 2010) — A few weeks ago, I began to read the novel Push by Sapphire. Now, most of you are familiar or have heard about the film that was made from the book Precious . I came upon these two after my mother told me about them and I decided to check out the book. At first, I didn’t really pay attention to the interviews and critic reviews of the movie, but once I started reading the novel, almost every page was filled with horrid images of the protagonist’s experiences as a child and an adolescent. Despite her thoughts of suicide and hate towards her family members, the main character still seems to carry herself well. Due to the people she meets, Precious starts to find confidence in herself more and lets her monster of a mother stay out of her life. From what the critics rave, I agree that it is an intense book with touching language that will make us realize how lucky we really are as typical high school students. Surprisingly, I found the book and the movie to be both inspirational and moving thanks to such creative writers, directors and producers. But there were still a few flaws here and there, and the movie did not quite meet my expectations. I usually pick the novel over film like The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and many more. In this case, I would still pick the novel over the movie because Sapphire gives us memorable images that really make us feel the character’s emotions: the happiness, the sadness and just about everything else. For me, the novel was not just a fast read. It was also very thought-provoking, and I often found myself thinking about how easy my life must be compared to others. I promise you, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, you should really read the book first. It will inspire even the most bitter people to live life to the fullest.