The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Title: The Color Purple

Author: Alice Walker

Publisher: Mariner Books; 1 edition

Release date: November 2006

Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 978-0156031820

Summary:

Amazon:

"Novel by Alice Walker, published in 1982. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1983. A feminist novel about an abused and uneducated black woman's struggle for empowerment, the novel was praised for the depth of its female characters and for its eloquent use of black English vernacular. Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister's letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self."

http://www.amazon.com/Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/0156031825/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288635542&sr=1-1

In the classroom:

The recent musical that this book was made into has the potential to spark interest for students to get familiar with the story.  Students get a woman's perspective of the issues and hardships that came alone with slavery in America.  It's an empowering story that I think a lot of students, boys and girls, would enjoy.