Sold by Patricia McCormick

Hyperion, 2006

Main character: Lakshmi

Often when we think of urban YA fiction, we think of children lost here in the lap of luxury, falling through the cracks of paved sidewalks and city streets lined with cars. However, around the world in urban areas children of color are considered disposable in lands where shoes are as much a luxury as is a bottle of Coca-cola. Thus is the tale of Lakshmi, a little girl from a tiny village in Nepal whose family can no longer afford rent or even a few grains of rice. They decide to sell their daughter, as many families do in that region, so that she can work as someone’s domestic servant and send money home. Little do they know of the tragic life that awaits these little girls as they are led to work in brothels in India.

Sold is a thin book, written in sparse words resulting in a delicate tale of pain, suffering and violation. Through Lakshmi’s voice, we learn what it is like to be a young girl in India where boys are able to go to school while girls must earn wages. We learn what it’s like to look old and worn at the age of 12 and we learn how to find hope.

McCormick actually went to Nepal and India for a month to research this book. She met girls who had been sold as well as the rescue workers who saved them. The result is a piece of fiction that feels like a true story.

themes: human rights; India; resiliance; modern slavery