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 Sold Jul 25, 2010
I was one of the lucky people who got to read this book, it is an amazing tale that we're sad to say actually happens. It is a silver plater of emotion rapped up in one. It teaches you not to take little things in life for granted. I am very happy to have read this book, there needs to be more like it. 5 stars!
A call to action Jul 20, 2010
Patricia McCormick is more poet than novelist in the way she has captured the experience of a young Nepalese girl sold into India's brothels. I was drawn in by its simplicity and warmth. Sex trafficking is a heinous crime. McCormick points a bright light on this horror and, just by telling this story so beautifully, moved me to do something about it. Please go to facebook and donate $1 to have this book printed in Nepalese so that, together, we can stop the traffickers.
Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children Jul 16, 2010
Lakshmi had learned early on that life as a young girl in a remote Nepalese village involved not only a great deal of hard physical labor, but also constant worries about the family's livelihood. While she was fortunate enough to attend school, fate had dealt a cruel blow when her father died and her mother remarried a man who turned out to spend most of his time gambling and drinking away what little money they had. He stooped even lower when he sold Lakshmi into prostitution.
Believing at first that her step-father had arranged for her to work as a maid for a rich woman far away, Lakshmi cooperated with the traffickers who brought her from her mountain home to one of India's large cities. Her naïve wonder at city life quickly turned into horror when she was imprisoned in a brothel, abused, deprived of food and water, drugged, and forced to sleep with countless male customers. Trapped by fear and manipulation, Lakshmi had to learn who she could trust before this nightmare could even begin to end.
Based on interviews with aid workers and trafficking survivors, this award-winning novel paints a grim picture of life as an unvalued girl in rural Nepal, and an even more disturbing portrait of a child's terrifying journey into forced prostitution. Although the author is careful to avoid graphic language, the book is most appropriate for young adults with sufficient maturity to read about rape and abuse. Along the way come some potent lessons about the insidiousness of human trafficking and the need for multiple strategies to end it.
Sad... Jul 05, 2010
Sold is horrifying, disturbing... You know in the back of your mind that these things happen every minute of every day, but there are some things that you can't think about, or you couldn't get through your days. This book throws them right up in your face. At first, it seems as if the little girl, Lakshmi, is living a century or two in the past. As the story progresses, however, you find that her story is occurring right now, right under your nose. The story is not told graphically; it is told in a child's voice, as she slowly understands what is happening to her. Her story is profoundly sad, but she keeps hope throughout. Her hope rings right through to the end. The ending is almost happy, but it leaves you wishing to know whether she was successfully reunited with her mother. The author gives a note at the end with devastating statistics on the reality of these children like Lakshmi.
 Sold May 25, 2010
Sold, by Patricia McCormick
"Sold" is the perfect book to introduce young adults (maybe 11-12 and up?) to some of the horrors that exist in other countries; according to the author's note, nearly half a million children are sold into the sex trade annually.
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Nepal with her mother, baby brother, and step-father. Lakshmi and her mother struggle against overwhelming poverty to survive, enjoying such small luxuries as a sweet cake. But when a monsoon destroys the rice crop, Lakshmi's step-father sells her into sexual slavery - only he tells the girl that she will be a servant in the city, working to help her family.
By the time Lakshmi learns the truth, she's been smuggled across the border into Calcutta, and drugged. When she fights against the man who bought her virginity, she is locked into a room, beaten, and starved for days. She has one choice: surrender to life as a child prostitute, or die.
"Sold" is written as a series of one to two page chapters, in free-verse format. This is perfect for Lakshmi's story - the voice is child-like, but also poignant, deep. The author did a lot of research and talked to many survivors - their heartbreaking, yet hopeful stories are retold in Lakshmi's tale. "Sold" will make you think, and will maybe open your eyes a little.
I've read "Sold" twice now, and have felt the impact of the story each time. One thing that sticks in my mind is how little Lakshmi's..."services" are worth: less than the price of a Coca-Cola.
4/5.
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