Terrifying tale of greed and abuse, beautifully told

books:


	• Sold Patricia Mccormick Hyperion Book CH, 2008 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 59 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Now what?

I read the book. I read the afterword in which Patricia McCormick briefly explains her travels and findings in conjunction with the story. OK. Now what? That is what I am left with--now what?

Should I sell all and go to India to help these girls? Seems implausible, although another reviewer intends to do just that, or perhaps she finally cannot. Send money? Nope, don't trust the imploring for money. Write my own book? No time, no talent. Pray for more Mother Teresas? Seems the most likely choice, but how many women are willing to renounce world and go help the girls in the brothel districts in India? What am I supposed to do for those pitiful, trusting girls, who are treated like nothing more than trash and offal?

Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old who follows with her eyes a boy in the village, who does likewise with her, is sold by her wicked stepfather into prostitution. His gambling habit is more important than the value of the life of his wife's child. By her own calculations, she learns early on that she will NEVER make enough money to buy her freedom.

I think the one unnerving point of the story is that Lakshmi is delivered from this life. An American missionary rescues her and takes her to learn a trade and a respectable way to live. Why unnerving? That only one at a time, only one, is rescued. Just one. How many, how many live in brothels across the world and are forced to submit without any choices or decisions?

The book is excellent. Period. There are no weaknesses in plot, character, theme. The fact (in the novel) that Lakshmi is one of uncounted thousands (millions?) explains why her story is so desperate. Because it is simple and brief, description of what happens to her can be read by 9-year-olds as long as they understand the ramifications of this kind of slavery. The worst fact is the number of times she must participate--a hundred and a hundred more. Police stories on television inform me that this kind of slavery even takes place in the United States. Buy 'em, catch 'em, take 'em to another country for prostitution.

And I ask, Now what?

for more information click here

Why Would a Man Sell His Daughter?

Lakshmi lives in a tiny village in Nepal. She is only 13 years old, a child, when she thinks she's been hired to move to the city to become a maid, but she's really been sold to become a sex slave in India.

From here on out, author Patricia McCormick tells a story which raises a number of questions: What motivates Lakshmi's father to sell her? Why does her mother let her go? What keeps her from refusing to leave her home? Why are "children" used as sex slaves? In what other countries does this happen? What prevents Lakshmi from running away from her captors or accepting help? What keeps children who are abused in other ways from asking for help? Can girls like Lakshmi be saved? What could have prevented this from happening to her? And more.

Is Lakshmi's mother right when she says "Simply to endure is to triumph"?

SOLD'S content, first person point of view, and expressive writing style will appeal to young adult and adult readers.

for more information click here

Difficult Topic Handled with Sensitivity

Writing about how Nepalese girls are sold into slavery and taken to India to be forced into a life of prostitution is no easy matter -- especially in a YA book. Given the topic, Patricia McCormick manages not only to pull it off, but to pull it off with sensitivity.

McCormick is a writer's writer, and the calibre of wordsmithing is a cut above your average YA fare. She first conjures the natural beauty of mountainous Nepal, even though her protagonist, a thirteen-year-old girl named Lakshmi, is dirt poor. Then, for contrast, she describes the claustrophobic penury and filth of Lakshmi's city captivity. In Nepal, our young protagonist lives with her Ama and her evil stepfather (a twist on the Cinderella motif). It is he who ultimately gambles what little they have away and heartlessly sells his stepdaughter into slavery (she assumes she is going off to be a maid and bravely vows to send what she earns home so her Ama can install a tin roof on their hut).

After a grueling trip into India, Lakshmi slowly discovers what's up and refuses to partake, but is drugged and forced to acquiesce. There are two scenes where it is clear what is happening, yet McCormick is anything but brutal and ugly while describing these brutal and ugly acts against an innocent child. Nevertheless, a mature and sensitive reader is called for, and the book is recommended more for high school aged readers and adults.

Written in free verse, an increasingly popular style of writing in the YA trade, SOLD will move you and anger you -- exactly McCormick's intent. It's beautifully written and worth all of the accolades it has received (it is a National Book Award finalist). Highly recommended.

for more information click here

Sold!

This book tells the story of a young Lakshmi. She lives in poverty, and longs to help suppport her family. One day, she finds that her stepfather is shipping her away with her new "aunt." She is excited and nervous about leaving her family to make money. She makes a long journey across Nepal, and is finally turned in to Mumtaz, her new employer. She is shown her room which she finds filled with beds. It is later that night that she realizes she has been sold into prostitution against her will. How will she escape?

This is Patricia McCormick's second novel, and an amzing book. I would reccommend it to anyone over the age of ten. This book hurls you straight into Nepal and the surrounding area, providing a vivid view of Lakshmi's world. Sold is full of courage and hope. It is a powerful read.

for more information click here

Terrifying tale of greed and abuse, beautifully told

When I picked up Sold I was expecting a children's novel. What I got was a gripping tale of betrayal, hope and kindness amidst depravity. Written in a poetic free verse, this book carries the reader on as Lakschmi moves from her native, poor Nepalian village to the brothel in Calcutta where she is made a prisoner. Forced into prostitution at the age of 13 she nearly loses her sense of self and her memories of her childhood. Only the kindness of the lesser members of the establishment saves her from utter despair.

Patricia McCormick depicts a compelling and frankly terrifying world of prostitution where greed rules and girls are used up until they are too sick to "work." She tackles an ugly subject in its raw form but in doing so tells a beautiful tale of hope and the ability to trust that survives against the worst odds.

Plan to read this one in one afternoon and to think about it for a long time to come.

for more information click here

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

2009 Illinois High School Book Award List
AP English - Maranatha High School - 2008
my favorite young adult book, "twilight"
Books I Recommend to Everyone
The Very Best

search for books
sold

Impressum / about us