by Sapphire
First published 2021
Precious Jones sits in a Harlem classroom at sixteen, pregnant with her second child by her father. She cannot read or write. The school has expelled her, but an alternative program takes her in. There, surrounded by other struggling students, Precious begins to decode letters and form words for the first time. She starts keeping a diary, recording her thoughts in her own emerging voice. Her teacher encourages her to write about her life, her relationships, her dreams. Each page becomes an act of survival and self-discovery. Through learning to read and write, Precious finds a way to name her experiences and imagine a different future. Her diary becomes both witness and weapon against the violence that has shaped her young life.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, abuse, african-american, coming-of-age, contemporary
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Harlem
Period: 20th-century
219 pages · Paperback · Vintage Classics
Content warnings: abuse, child-abuse, sexual-assault