SOLD

Hey! You, reading this blog. Please keep reading. I know I have been away longer than I would have liked, but this is a book that everyone should read... No, it's a book that everyone NEEDS to read. Though this book is fiction, it could very well be true, and the events that occur in this book are true events and true problems that need to be addressed. This is YOUR chance to do something. This is YOUR chance to educate others. It's up to YOU. The more we know, the more we can do to help. Together we can end human trafficking.

A Novel by Patricia McCormick

Summary: Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small village in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must take a job to support her family.

He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to help, Lakshmi journeys to India only to learn the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution. 

An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi hat she is trapped there until she can pay off her family's debt- then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.

Gradually, Lakshmi forms friendships that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision- will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?

Official Reviews: "An unforgettable account of sexual slavery as it exists now." - Booklist (starred review)

"Hard-hitting... poignant. The author beautifully balances the harshness of a brothel life with the poignant relationships among its residents."- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Readers can't help but be moved by Lakshmi's fate." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

"Searing...poetic" - The Horn Book

"Told in a series of haunting vignettes, Sold is a harrowing account of sexual slavery. Alternating lyrical imagery with precise detail, McCormick gives the voice to the terror and bewilderment of a young girl robber of her childhood but who finds the strength to triumph."-National Book Awards

"Stunning... this novel is not to be missed." - VOYA

"McCormick provides readers who live in safety and under protection of the law with a vivid window into a harsh and cruel world." -Kirkus Reviews

"Heartbreaking... McCormick's research for this novel involved interviewing women in Nepal and India, and her depth of detail makes the characters believable and their misery palpable. This important book was written in their honor." -School Library Journal

My Review: This book is one that should be ready by everybody. It should be placed in classrooms around the world. Sex Trafficking has been going on for eons, there are so many of us who are clueless to its horrors. This book is so sad, not in ways like Tuesdays With Morrie or like in The Book Thief where characters that you've grown attached to die. This novel is sad in that it could very well be true. Events like the ones in this books could be happening right now in some remote country, and so many of us would never know it. Everybody needs to read this book. The more we know about sex trafficking and child trafficking the sooner it can be addressed and stopped. For more information on human trafficking and ways that you can help, please visit http://www.endhumantrafficking.org/. 

WARNING: Though I say everyone should read this book, there are a few things that I need to clarify. The events that occur in this book are very raw. Sex trafficking is not something to be taken lightly, and McCormick would never get that message across if she censored out what happens to this thirteen-year-old girl. This is a very graphic novel, and though I do recommend everyone read it, I would advise you to talk to your parents about reading this book if you are under the age of fourteen. I believe everyone should know about this book despite their age (because there are children as young as ten years old if not younger being trafficked for prostitution worldwide.) but some material may not be suitable for younger children. Talk with your parents. Who knows, maybe you can be the one to inform them. The future is ours. Let's try to make it a future free from human trafficking.

Facts about Child Trafficking:

   *What is human trafficking? -Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harbouring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html

  

  *The International Labor Organization's estimated in 2002 that 1.2 MILLION children are being trafficked each year. That's over 3,000 a day and over two children every MINUTE. http://www.unicef.org/protection/57929_58005.html

   *According to some estimates, approximately 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19% involves labor exploitation. 

   * It is estimated that there are approximately 27 million slaves around the world.

   * 68% of female sex trafficking victims meet the clinical criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder.

   * Around half of trafficking victims are under the age of 18. That's approximately 13.5 MILLION.

   *Trafficked children are significantly  more likely to develop mental health problems, abuse substances, engage in prostitution as adults, and either commit or be victimized by violent crimes.

   * Trafficking victims normally don't get help because they think that they or their families will be hurt by their traffickers, or they will be deported. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-human-trafficking

Come on everyone, we may not be able to start a reading revolution, but maybe if we join together, we'll be the generation to end human trafficking for good.

Also, to all victims of the Colorado shooting (including their families) my heart and prayers are with you. The innocent will never be forgotten.