Sold

by Patricia McCormick Narrated by Justine Eyre

Overview

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain 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 that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and 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 be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope.* But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.

An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning.* She tells Lakshmi that 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.

Lakshmi's life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape.* Still, she lives by her mother's words-Simply to endure is to triumph-and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls 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?

Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

This hard-hitting novel told in spare free verse poems exposes the plight of a 13-year-old Nepali girl sold into sexual slavery. Through Lakshmi's innocent first-person narrative, McCormick (Cut) reveals her gradual awakening to the harshness of the world around her. Even in their poverty-stricken rural home, Lakshmi finds pleasure in the beauty of the Himalayan mountains, the sight of Krishna, her betrothed, and the cucumbers she lovingly tends, then sells at market. After a monsoon wipes out their crops, her profligate stepfather sells Lakshmi to an "auntie" bound for the city. During her journey, the girl acquires a visual and verbal vocabulary of things she has never seen before: electric lights, a TV. Soon a hard-won sense of irony invades her narrative, too. Early on, a poem entitled "Everything I Need to Know" marks her step into womanhood (after her first menstrual cycle); later, "Everything I Need to Know Now" lists her rules as an initiated prostitute. In her village, Lakshmi had rebelliously purchased her first Coca-Cola for her mother, after her stepfather sold her; later, in Calcutta, she overhears two johns talking and realizes, "the price of a bottle of Coca-Cola at Bajai Sita's store./ That is what he paid for [a turn with] me." The author beautifully balances the harshness of brothel life with the poignant relationships among its residents; especially well-drawn characters include the son of one of the prostitutes, who teaches Lakshmi to read and speak some English and Hindi, and clever Monica, who earns her freedom but gets sent back by her shamed family. Readers will admire Lakshmi's grit and intelligence, and be grateful for a ray of hope for this memorable heroine at book's end. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-As this heartbreaking story opens, 13-year-old Lakshmi lives an ordinary life in Nepal, going to school and thinking of the boy she is to marry. Then her gambling-addicted stepfather sells her into prostitution in India. Refusing to "be with men," she is beaten and starved until she gives in. Written in free verse, the girl's first-person narration is horrifying and difficult to read. "In between, men come./They crush my bones with their weight./They split me open./Then they disappear." "I hurt./I am torn and bleeding where the men have been." The spare, unadorned text matches the barrenness of Lakshmi's new life. She is told that if she works off her family's debt, she can leave, but she soon discovers that this is virtually impossible. When a boy who runs errands for the girls and their clients begins to teach her to read, she feels a bit more alive, remembering what it feels like to be the "number one girl in class again." When an American comes to the brothel to rescue girls, Lakshmi finally gets a sense of hope. An author's note confirms what readers fear: thousands of girls, like Lakshmi in this story, are sold into prostitution each year. Part of 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.-Alexa Sandmann, Kent State University, OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In her village in Nepal, Lakshmi's life is more than difficult and requires her to endure hunger, harsh weather and poverty. When she is sold to an itinerant "Auntie," she thinks she'll be working as a maid in the city. She's determined to excel, even though she can't imagine the place. She arrives in a brothel, working in guaranteed slavery until she is broken or dies, astonished at the charges beyond what she could possibly earn for everything she touches. The harshness of her life in this new country of India, feeling torn from all that is familiar, comes close to crushing her, yet she endures. The tiny moments of peace, learning the words in books, the friendships and respect that develop provide a relief for readers even as admiration for Lakshmi's strength and capacity for sorrow grows. Written as a prose poem, Sold focuses on the essential question of whether it is possible to trust when all that one has trusted has been proven untrustworthy. McCormick provides readers who live in safety and under protection of the law with a vivid window into a harsh and cruel world-one most would prefer to pretend doesn't exist. (Fiction. YA)

From the Publisher

National Book Award Finalist
Publishers Weekly, Best 100 Books of the Year
NPR’s Best Books of the Year
American Library Association, Top Ten List, Best Books of the Year
Gustav-Heinemann Peace Prize
Booklist Editor’s Choice Award
New York Public Library Best Books for Teens
Children’s Literature Council’s Choice 
Book Sense Pick

*“Hard-hitting … poignant. The author beautifully balances the harshness of brothel life with the poignant relationships among its residents.” – Publishers Weekly starred review
 

*“An unforgettable account of sexual slavery as it exists now.”—Booklist starred review

“The writing is breathtaking in both its simplicity and attention to detail … stunning … this novel is not to be missed.”—Voice of Youth Advocates

“McCormick provides readers who live in safety and under protection of the law with a vivid window into a harsh and cruel world—one most would prefer to pretend doesn’t exist.”—Kirkus

“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.”—SLJ

“McCormick uses language both lyrical and spare to lead the reader into this deeply troubled and troubling world …this is a story of courage, which is precisely what it takes to plant one’s literary work in unfamiliar soil.” —Children’s Literature

“SOLD is a demanding at times painful book to read. These challenges, however, only serve to heighten the impact of the powerful and important novel that sheds light on a global crisis.”—Teenreads.com

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Hard-hitting . . . poignant. The author beautifully balances the harshness of brothel life with the poignant relationships among its residents." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review

DECEMBER 2012 - AudioFile

This stunning novel by the gifted McCormick centers on 13-year-old Lakshmi, who lives with her family in the mountains of Nepal and is tricked into a life of prostitution. Raw, bitter, honest, and unnerving, the story comes to life in a vivid and personal performance by Justine Eyre. With a pitch-perfect tone that is as unrelenting as the story, Eyre delivers a stellar performance that embodies the main character's quest in the utmost detail. Eyre's dialect is astute and precise, lending a credibility that affects the overall experience. The result is a memorable event that will no doubt have listeners returning for another listening experience with Eyre for years to come. L.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171066093
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	11/26/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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