Was it really two years ago that the phrase, ” ‘Precious,’ based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” was on everyone’s lips? The award-winning 2009 film introduced us to the unforgettable Claireece P. “Precious” Jones, who, when we meet her, is pregnant with her second child, Abdul.

“The Kid” is the story of Abdul, who, in the course of this tale, passes through the hands of many more people than any child should and is called several different names along the way.

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The Kid By Sapphire

Penguin Press; 374 pages,$25.95

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The book opens when Abdul is 9, on the day of his mother’s funeral. In the first dozen pages, both Precious’ mother, Mary, the vicious abuser from “Push,” and Precious’ grandmother, Toosie, make dramatic appearances. Abdul also meets Blue Rain and Sondra Lichtenstein, who speak at Precious’ funeral and remind us of his mother’s battle to escape illiteracy, abuse and poverty.

Through the funeral and for some time afterward, Abdul can hear his mother’s voice in his head, rendered in italics in the text. He combines a child’s fantasy that all will be well with the harsh reality of seeing Precious in her casket.

“I know my mother ain’t dead like they be saying ’cause I be talking to her all the time just like I always did. But I know we probably ain’t going to Callie, to Disneyland, like she said we was. Two more years — When I get outta school, we’re going to California, to Disneyland! Where’s California? Don’t be silly, look at the map!”

From these heartbreaking opening scenes, we are firmly immersed in the point of view of a small, frightened, powerless boy. And, as in “Push,” greed lies at the heart of many of the decisions that change Abdul’s life — greed and a horrifying indifference to his basic needs: What happened to his few but cherished possessions? Where will he go to school? And, most critical, will he be physically safe in the places he lives?

From the beginning, for various reasons, the answer to the final question is no. As Abdul responds to brutality by beginning to abuse others with less power, he fully shares his rationalizations. Readers, hoping that the earnest and basically good-hearted Abdul will at least survive and possibly succeed, find themselves in some very uncomfortable situations as Abdul follows his needs and instincts.

That’s the genius of Sapphire’s writing: Abdul, like Precious, while not a monster like his grandmother, Mary, is both a victim and an oppressor. He cloaks his occasional casual brutality in denial and in hope. We want to shake him by the shoulders when he is at his worst, but we never want to give up on him.

This novel is written in both the coarse language and dialect of the Harlem streets where Abdul — later J.J., Crazy Horse, at one point even Arthur Stevens — lives. And while written dialect can be off-putting, especially if it is dated or sounds wrong, the dialogue in “The Kid” is pitch-perfect and true to the characters. Honestly, though one might wish for less profanity, it could not have been written any other way.

Abdul’s life does not spiral straight downward. A bright and interested boy, he does well in the classroom at a Catholic orphanage and discovers, as a young teenager, a saving grace. He can dance, and in dance class, he finds a kind of fulfillment and release that he feels nowhere else. He’s both talented and hardworking. Dance remains a constant bridge of discipline and success that transcends the casual chaos of his normal life. It looks as though dance might save him.

But his daily struggle continues. When trouble arrives at the orphanage, he is dumped with his great-grandmother, the ancient Toosie, whom he refers to in his mind as “Slavery Days.” Her filthy, roach-ridden room disgusts him. In this part of the book, the narrative shifts for the first time when Toosie sits down young Abdul and tells him about her roots and the trouble she survived. Abdul is barely sympathetic, but readers will be entranced by the flow of this older, more rural, more casually brutal story.

Abdul yearns to get away. He has sex with men in the park for money, then moves in with a dance teacher named Roman. When that relationship implodes, he joins up with a group of dance and theater students who veer dangerously toward caricature, with their trust funds and their political nicknames. These are the only false notes in the book.

“The Kid” ends on an edgy note — things have just gotten very, very bad, and then suddenly the world shifts, and Abdul has a chance. The ending will leave readers looking for the sequel.

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