“Push” by American author Sapphire was banned Wednesday from all Utah public schools after the Davis, Granite and Washington County school districts removed it.
The 1996 novel follows Precious Jones, an illiterate 16-year-old in Harlem, New York, who is abused by her parents. She meets a teacher who helps her learn to write and shows her how to be the author of her own story.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports the 2009 movie, later retitled “Precious,” because another film with the same name came out that year, premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, starring Gabourey Sidibe and Mariah Carey.
It won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic competition.
“Precious” also won two Academy Awards.
Sapphire responded to the bans on her website saying, “When we ban books like ‘Push,’ we are in danger of falling into the sinkholes of hate and prejudice and ignorance and of losing what little love we have left for each other.”
“Push” joins 36 other titles from 24 authors on the state’s banned list. Over half of the books are written by women.
Utah law requires a book to be removed from all public schools if three school districts (or two districts and five charter schools) determine it amounts to “objective sensitive material.”
State officials typically do not cite the details of a book’s contents when placing it on the statewide banned list.
