Most children have parents that love them and cherish them, but Precious's whole life has been filled to the brim with parental abuse. When she was only a young child, her mother Mary began beating her, and Carl, her father, begins raping her. He assumes she will not be fertile, but when she turns 12, she becomes pregnant. The child is born with Down Syndrome and goes to live with Precious's grandmother to be raised by her there.
The title of the novel comes in the hospital when Precious delivers her child, and she hears the paramedics instructing her, "Push!" which stays with her even after, becoming her life motto for surviving her extremely difficult life. At school, the constant turmoil of her daily home life holds her back, and she doesn't really ever learn to read. She is overweight (a symptom of her PTSD and severe paranoia and depression, no doubt) and her fellow students tease and bully her. Her developing agoraphobia causes her to hate attention so much that one day, when she has to use the restroom, she can't bring herself to interrupt the class, and she pees on herself.
One day, Precious turns up pregnant again from her father. Now 16, Precious is old enough for the school to assume the child belongs to a lover, and they expel her from school. Precious ends up at an alternative school for the poorly behaved where she meets Ms. Rain who realizes that Precious can't really read or write, so she slows down and teaches her, showing her how to keep a personal journal. She writes beautiful poetry and everyone loves her for it.
She names her second child Abdul and together with her child, Precious finally escapes her home to a half-way house. She receives news that her father has died of AIDS, so Precious gets herself and Abdul tested. The child is alright, but Precious tests HIV positive. She rallies her strength and brings both children into her home. Even in the face of certain catastrophe, Precious decides to "push" forward.
