I finished reading SOLD by Patricia McCormick last week, and I still can't stop thinking about it. This book was painful yet riveting to read. At one point, I put it away determined not to finish it because the story just too horrifying, but then I had to know the ending.
Written in free verse, the story is told from the point of view of 13 yr. old Lakshmi who lives in Nepal with her mother, little brother and negligent step-father. Her family lives in poverty, food is scarce and daily survival is increasingly difficult.
Lakshmi spends her days tending to her small garden, caring for her goat, going to school and dreaming of a brighter future. Then, something happens that changes her life forever; she is sold. Believing she is going to work as a maid for a wealthy family, she soon finds herself living a nightmare.
This book took an emotional toll on me. As I read, I couldn't comprehend how something this monsterous could happen and continues to go on. Each year 12,ooo Nepali girls are sold into sexual slavery. Patricia McCormick did extensive research traveling to Nepal and India to interview the women who suvived to tell their story. The book is written in their honor.
This is an important book that brings awareness to a generally unknown human crisis.
SOLD is YA novel and is recommended for readers high school age and beyond.
Thank you for writing such a heart-felt review. It makes me very interested in reading this.
ReplyDeleteSold won the California Young Reader Medal for 2009 - here's their website: http://www.californiayoungreadermedal.org/
Thanks, Mary Ann for letting me know about the award. The story is heart-breaking, but very eye-opening.
ReplyDeleteIf you decide to read it, keep a box of tissues nearby.
Child sexual slavery is on the rise. In Zimbawe for example where so many children of the orphans because of the AIDS epidemic, they are forced or feel they have no other choice but to sell their bodies.
ReplyDeleteI read this book a while back. I have it in our library and I appreciate it on so many levels.
While the story is difficult, it is inspiring and it needs to be told. We should be uncomfortable reading it. Sometimes literature is written with an intent to incite. I hope more will educate themselves about sex slavery around the round and express their outrage.
This sounds like a difficult but important book to read.
ReplyDeleteOn my TBR list it goes.