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Mar 10, 2008

Ms.Whitehead rated it:

AM I PRETTY?

In the days after the hugging man leaves, I consider myself in the mirror. My plain self, not the self wearing lipstick and eyeliner and a flimsy dress.

Sometimes I see a girl who is growing into womanhood. Other days I see a girl growing old before her time.

It doesn't matter, of course. Because no one will ever want me now.

Lakshmi is thirteen-years-old. She lives a simple, albeit impoverished, existence with with her Ama, infant sibling More...

1 comment like (24 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

"Each year, nearly 12,000 Nepali girls are sold by their families, intentionally or unwittingly, into a life of sexual slavery in the brothels of India."
This author traveled to Nepal and Calcutta for her research, interviewing aid workers and girls who have been rescued from the red-light districts of Calcutta.

The book follows the path of Lakshmi, a thirteen-year-old Nepali girl, as she is sold and makes the journey to India, thinking she is going to be a maid for a More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 05, 2008

Heather rated it:

What a powerful, haunting story! Written in free verse from the perspective of a 13 year old Nepalese girl, who was sold from her mountain home to earn a living as a maid in the big city. Lakshmi was saddened to leave her mother and her baby brother, but she was eager to earn a living so she could send money back to her family for necessities like clothing, food, and a new tin roof, for which they were in desperate need. But when Lakshmi leaves, she is not taken to the big city to work as a m More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2009

Taylor rated it:

Sold

The book I read was Sold by Patricia McCormack. The genre is realistic fiction. The theme of the book is to stay strong and learn to speak up.
The books about a thirteen year old girl named Lakshmi. Her father sells her to be a sex slave because he gambled all his money and is very selfish. Lakshmi doesn’t know she was going to be sold for that reason though, she thought she was going to work as a house maid.She was sent to a house called " More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 12, 2008

Jaime rated it:

A beautiful book written in free verse poetry about a child being sold into sexual slavery in India/Pakistan. It says it is for middle-schoolers, but due to the content and the way it is written, I would go higher.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 13, 2010

Lindsey rated it:

The book Sold is written by Patricia McCorimck and is story telling the life of a young girl sold in to prostitution. This book is catorigized as Memoir. The story takes place in a small town in Nepal revolving around the main character, Lakashmi, a 14 year old girl. Sold is written in script form and a chapter is usually 1 to 3 pages long and typed in poem form. I would recommend this book to anyone who is intrested in learning about other cultures or who would like to know how people in other More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2012

Jason rated it:

SOLD

1. Sold is a book that tells us a story of a young girl sold into prostitution by her father. Lakshmi lived each day with terrible anguish hoping that she would make it through this sadism domain. Lakshmi sought for a hint of hope, for possibilities, that maybe, just maybe she would escape from this evil place.

2. The book was written in a poetic style and the story was told in free verse that made it easier and more interesting to read. It was written in a vivid lang More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 20, 2011

Annette rated it:

I thought about what makes this book personal for me and I find that nothing that I have experienced in my own life directly correlated with the story of Lakshmi, a girl sold into slavery and prostitution at a very young age. However, you read about such a character and you can look at your own life and be reminded that some of your daily problems are nowhere near as dire and heartbreaking as what many have had to endure. In my teaching experiences I have had the wonderful opportunity to work wi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 06, 2009

Rebecca rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 05, 2011

Christine rated it:

Approximate Interest Level/Reading Level: High School (GLE 4.8)

Format: Verse Novel

Awards: ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2007), National Book Award Honor for Young People's Literature (2006), Notable Social Studies Trade Books (2007), Ten Best Books for Young Adults (2007) 

Plagued by drought then flood, a struggling family’s livelihood along with 13 year old Lakshmi’s future is lost. Leaving her mother and the only home she has even known in the Himalayas o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 27, 2008

Kiwi rated it:

I don't enjoy writing long reviews. I did really enjoy this book. As a warning, do not have ANY intentions of putting this book down. I was reading it the night after a long flight from the US to the UK, and I thought, "I'll read some before I go to bed." I got to the halfway mark and thought, "Well, what's the harm in reading some more?"

And then it was over. Meaning I had spent far longer than I had intended to reading, and the book had been finished in two More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2008

Mckinsey rated it:

I must say that at the beginning i loved this book and then towards the middle or when you got to the juicy part of the book i decided that i did not like it. i thought that it is too disturbing and akward to read but after a while i became addicted i felt her emotions as i read through this book and i must say that i was sad when i finished it. i must say that i can't really relate to her on the same levels but i can say that i would rather die a thousand deaths than to ever and i repaet ever More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2009

Celia rated it:

This book was beautifully written, but tells such an ugly story. Lakshmi is a 13-year-old girl from Nepal. She is poor, but loves her life in the mountains. Unfortunatley, she is sold (unbeknownst to her)to a brothel in India, and must endure this life, or die.

Patricia McCormick writes in an almost free-verse style, simply giving Lakshmi a voice which breaks the readers heart.
I believe this would be a great book for middle school students, because it is not too graphic, but te More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2009

Sarah rated it:

1. This book conveys less about the triumph of the human spirit and more about how Americans fix everything. In tone it read exactly like an early missionary novel.

2. I wish people would only write novels in verse if the verse actually served some purpose in the plot or the development of the character, or if the verse was good. In Sold it's simply a weird affectation.

3. The fact brought up as an afterthought in the end notes, that Nepalese women are fighting back by edu More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Apr 03, 2007

Jan rated it:

This is a compelling and moving story of a young girl who is sold into prostitution. Lakshmi is a thirteen year old girl who lives with her family in Nepal. Although dire poverty makes life is hard for Lakshi and her family, she still is loved and cared for by her mother, Ama. But her stepfather is another story—he gambles with their hard earned money and is always in debt. After a catastrophic harvest failure, Lakshmi’s stepfather tells her he is going to send her to the city to be a maid, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 15, 2008

Olivia rated it:

The best book I’ve read has to be “Sold”. When I first saw the cover and heard it about it I thought that it would be boring and useless. This book is about a poor girl who needs to help her family, so her step dad sends her off to work as a maid in America. When she is packed and on her way, she will soon find out that her nightmare is soon to begin. I loved the book, but I was disappointed to find out in the end that they leave you hanging. My expectations were nothing of what I thought at fir More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2009

Clarice rated it:

I thought I would have a hard time reading this, considering the topic. But that wasn't the case. It was very well written, and took me straight into this little girl's world from her view. A very emotional ending for me, having me wondering what I can do to help these girls sold into slavery. Then, of course, by the next day I had forgotten all about it, all wrapped up in my world of grocery shopping, making dinner, and to do lists. How can we make a difference if we forget? And how can we reme More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 05, 2008

Nicole rated it:

When I began reading this book, I didnt think that I would like it! But instead of getting rid of it right away I managed to stick with it and I didnt really think that was the best choice. Throughout the whole book this girl has the same problem and really nothing evey changes! This whole book is written on one problem and one problem only! I dont think that was the right choice and when the author continued the book I think that she needed more variety! I do have to say that the author did bet More...

8 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 29, 2008

Neila rated it:

I bought this book yesterday and read it in one day. It's a Young Adult book written in semi-diary form and is an eye opening insight into the plight of very young girls from Nepal sold into the sex slave business in India. It depicts the simpleness of life in the mountains of Nepal and how isolated she was until she was taken to Calcutta. She didn't even know what an electric light bulb was. In her vocabulary it was an electric sun. It also demonstrates how fear controlled the girls and ke More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 03, 2007

Kate rated it:

Having read Patricia McCormick's first book, Cut, I was pretty sure I would like this one. I did not, however, expect it to be poetry. I had to read Witness by Karen Hess for my Children's Lit class, which is also a story told in poetry, and for me this one worked better. Witness was confusing with the poems being told by different characters, and this had a single viewpoint. A woman I work with has a relative who is in India right now working undercover to rescue children sold into slavery, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Lisa added it

An incredible sad but powerful story. When the story began, I thought the time period was a hundred years ago or more. Unfortunately, it is set in today's world. The step by step progression of an unwitting girl from Nepal into prostitution in India gives readers a true glimpse of inhumanity and cruelty. Although nowhere near as graphic as it could be, its subject matter would certainly cause some parents to hesitate before recommending this to their child. However, if a student is mature e More...

0 comments like

Oct 11, 2010

Erica - rated it:

I read a lot and rarely does one book make me want to tell the entire world about it. Yes, there was Prep but this book is different. This is one of those books that everyone should read.

It’s an important story about a girl from Nepal, who thinks she is going to work as a maid in the city, only to find out the hard way that she’s been sold to a brothel. After arriving at the brothel, she dreams about her pet goat which almost had me in tears because I can’t imagine the horror of being sold to a More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2009

Tuesday rated it:

This book was written in a poetic style that really made the reading quite easy to do. If this book had not been written in such a style, it would have been quite hard to read.

The subject of this book is important to understand in today's society and, I hope, brings attention to the abhorant practice of sex slavery around the world. I do not agree that this is an appropriate book for children regardless of age. Some recommendations have been made that it is appropriate for 10-12 grad More...

0 comments like

Jan 19, 2009

Kelly rated it:

An excellent book. I read it in about 2 hours because the main character was so engrossing, and I just couldn't believe what was happening to her. It was only after I read the author's note at the end that it really hit me though: "Each year, nearly 12,000 Nepali girls are sold by their families, intentionally or unwittingly, into a life of sexual slavery in the brothels of India. Worldwide, the U.S. State Department estimates that nearly half a million children are trafficked into the sex More...

0 comments like

Jan 19, 2009

Linda rated it:

Lakshmi is thirteen-years-old living an ordinary life in her dirt-poor village in Nepal. Life is hard, but nothing compared to the life she will find when her stepfather sells her into slavery of the worst sort. She thinks she will be working as a maid for a rich lady in Calcutta. But Lakshmi has been sold as a prostitute and will face unspeakable horror in her life in a Calcutta brothel. Lakshmi is forced to submit to the men or be beaten. She finds friendship and support in the oddest places, More...

0 comments like

Dec 21, 2008

Barky rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Dec 18, 2008

Marsena rated it:

Although this is considered a young adult book, I would recommend it to any adult, too. It's the story of Lakshmi, a girl living in poverty in Nepal, who, in an attempt to help her family, agrees to go with a strange woman to the city in order to work as a maid. Unfortunately, she finds herself sold and sold again until she lands in "Happiness House" as a sex slave. I appreciated the fact that although much of the book is set in the brothel, there are no lurid or detailed sex scenes, m More...

0 comments like

Feb 12, 2012

Shushu rated it:

This book is about a girl named Lakshmi who lives in Nepal and is very poor. She lives with her mom, baby brother and her step father that gambles with all the money they own. Because of how poor Nepal is people killed there children to survive but Lakshmi's mom is nice enough to keep her 2 children. On day Lakshmi dad told her mom that Lakshmi has to go work in the city to earn money, and so she did. She went to the city with strangers but they are very caring. When they made it to her city hom More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2012

Ayo rated it:

Sold is about a thirteen year old gold named Lakshmi. She lives in Nepal with her family who is really poor and is in debt. Desperate for money Lakshmi's stepfather takes her to meet a women who says she will give her a job as a maid in India. However when Lakshmi arrived in India she wasn't at a another persons house. She was at a brothel. She had been sold into prostitution and now Lakshmi's life has become a total nightmare.
Sold was a great book and very enjoyable to read. One aspect of More...

0 comments like

Dec 15, 2011

Karina rated it:

Through my eyes, and I'm sure of many others, not a lot of people are grateful for what they have. Everyone always takes everything for granted expecting even the smallest things to always be available. That is the problem when you've lived in a country your whole life where all things seems so easy to access. My plan after high school is to visit Africa for a couple of months and do my best to help everyone out. Not just food-wise, but education-wise too. My inspiration is Emmanuel Jal, a guy f More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)