'I'm alive inside. A bird is my heart. Mama and Daddy is not win. I'm winning.'

This is the story of Precious, a sixteen-year-old illiterate Black girl who has never been out of Harlem. Pregnant by her own father for the second time, she is kicked out of school and placed in an alternative teaching programme. Through learning to read and write, Precious begins to find her voice, and fight back.

Push is the unflinching diary of a girl whose strength and kindness shines amidst extraordinary adversity.

Meet ten of literature's most iconic heroines, featuring bold portraits by female photographers from around the world.

An inspired and inspiring debut, a The Color Purple for the nineties * Vogue *
Sapphire's vibrant, unindulgent first novel has you cheering the awesome Precious on until the last page: her voice is true and the book is cool * Mail on Sunday *
Harrowing yet hilarious... packs a powerful punch... The powerful writing makes the book a cracking read... a tour de force * Guardian *
Unforgettable...a mesmerising and uplifting read... Has all the power and vehemence of rap...brutal in its defence of the vulnerable * Independent *
Harrowing yet hilarious...packs a powerful punch... The powerful writing makes the book a cracking read...a tour de force * Guardian *

Sapphire is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Kid. She is also the author two books of poetry, American Dreams and Black Wings & Blind Angels. Her novel Push spent thirteen weeks in the number one position on the New York Times Bestseller List and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Fiction. In 2009 Push was made into the Academy Award winning movie 'Precious' described by Rolling Stone Magazine as the Best Picture of 2009.


Sapphire's poetry and prose has been published in numerous journals and magazines including The New Yorker, Black Scholar, PN Review, Spin, and BOMB. Sapphire's work has been translated into fourteen languages and adapted for stage in North America, Europe and Africa.


Sapphire lives in New York City where she is working on a new novel and a selected volume of her poetry.