The Color Purple

Gr 10 Up–A timeless classic, this is a cultural mainstay with perennial importance, relevance, and splendor. Penned by the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, this work of art takes place in rural Georgia and centers the various lives and experiences of Black women in the 1930s. Celie, the 14-year-old protagonist and narrator, survives ongoing emotional, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather, Alphonso. A man named Mister offers to marry Celie’s younger sister, 12-year-old Nettie, but their stepfather arranges for Mister to marry Celie instead. Mister and his children all treat Celie badly, attempting to break her spirit and discard her humanity. Celie often writes letters to God to give voice to such harrowing mistreatment. Hope and resilience become the protagonist’s armor to take up space with her intersecting identities, causing her to also find strength from friendships with other strong Black women characters, Shug Avery and Sofia. There are several explicit descriptions of systematic rapes, masturbation, and beatings.