How Do I
About CLP
The Kid by Sapphire
At the beginning of The Kid 9-year-old Abdul is dreaming. He doesn’t want to wake up. Doesn’t want to face the truth. Doesn’t want to say goodbye to his mother.
But he must wake up. He must wake up and go to his mother’s funeral. His mother, Precious (from Sapphire’s book Push) died from AIDS. Since his father has already died, Abdul is left orphaned. He can no longer stay with his mother’s friend and is put into foster care. Already confused and alone, Abdul starts to dream, fantasize, hallucinate, forget and distort reality. He fades in and out of consciousness—never fully comprehending what is real.
After being severely abused by his foster family, Abdul wakes up in a hospital not realizing what has happened to him. He has no idea how long he was living with the abusive foster family. He is taken out of foster care and put into an orphanage school which is run by Catholic brothers–St. Ailanthus.
The school seems to be good for Abdul. But then reality hits him again—this time leaving him kicked out of school and the only home he has. Abdul moves from bad situation to bad situation. He is abused and he abuses not only others but himself as well. His only respite is dance. Abdul finds dance and finds that he is a good dancer. Hoping that hard work and dedication will pay off, Abdul puts his heart and soul into dance. But can dance fix a broken life?
Squeamish readers be warned. Sapphire describes the abuse that is inflicted upon Abdul and the abuse that Abdul inflicts in graphic detail.
Review by Barb, CLP-Allegheny
