Sold by Patricia McCormick, Hyperion, 2006.ISBN: 978-078685171-3
Plot Summary
Although extremely poor, thirteen-year-old Lakshimi is not all that different from the other girls in her village. She dreams about her future, giggles with her friend and studies hard in school. While her stepfather is negligent and sometimes abusive she appreciates the loving relationship she has with her mother and hopes for a better life. One day Lakshimi’s world is shattered when her stepfather sells her to a woman who promises to help her become a maid. Passed from person to person Lakshimi soon finds that she has been sold to a brothel and, through the use of drugs, is forced to daily prostitute herself. Her madam, Auntie Mumtaz, promises that as soon as Lakshimi has paid her debt she is free to go. Although part of Lakshimi suspects that Mumtaz is lying she lives continually in hope that she will one day be free. But when she formulates a plan that may allow her to escape will she be able to muster the courage it takes to leave?
Critical Evaluation
Although it is admirable that Patricia McCormick brings to light an issue that the public is often ignorant of (particularly as it relates to American child prostitution), the true gift McCormick gives readers is her detailed, sensitive approach. While readers are rightly outraged and disgusted by Lakshimi’s madam, customers, and stepfather, McCormick refuses to paint them in broad strokes. For example, what are readers to make of the customer that, while still having sex with Lakshimi, does so in a respectful manner? In fact, at the end of the encounter Lakshimi herself says, “Harish [her friend] had taught me how to say thank you in his language, but it seemed a paltry word for my debt to this man” (p. 177). Another difficult character to decipher is the horrible madam, Auntie Mumtaz. While she is clearly a vile character that cheats her charges and involves herself rape and torture readers are forced to question her motives. For example, Shilpa, one of the girls working alongside Lakshimi, stays in the brothel out of her own free will because prostitution is her family’s trade (p. 167). Indeed, Shilpa is often drunk because her mother gave her alcohol when she was young to ease her child’s pain (p. 172). Perhaps Auntie Mumtaz is a grown-up version of Shilpa. Even Lakshimi’s stepfather who sold her into prostitution cannot be fully blamed. As Lakshimi’s mother says they are “lucky to have a man at all… [e]ven a man who gambles away what little we have on a fancy hat and a new coat” (p. 8, 38). Later on in the novel Lakshimi observes a thirteen year old girl being shamed and stoned on the streets for trying to run away from her elderly husband (p. 85). If this is the culture that Lakshimi grows up in is it any wonder that her stepfather casually sells her into prostitution in order to afford more drink and clothing? In fact, in her extensive research for the novel, McCormick traveled to India and discovered the horrifying story of a man who sold his fiancée into prostitution in order to buy a motorcycle (1). Although he was in jail, he was unconcerned as he knew the authorities would soon set him free (1). With a story such as this, it is clear that the rest of McCormick’s tale is equally plausible.
Not only are Patricia McCormick’s details well researched lending Lakshimi a credible voice, the author’s use of free verse emphasizes the horrors endured and the hope of escape. Sold reads as part poetry, part diary. Readers can imagine Sold’s collections of poems residing in Lakshimi’s well-worn diary that contains her sums and learned vocabulary. The free verse format also forces readers to concentrate on Lakshimi’s abuse as there is little room for extraneous detail in short free verse form. Between McCormick’s complex characters, well-researched facts, and haunting poetic form it is easy to see why Sold garnered such high critical praise and the honor of being a National Book Award Finalist.
(1) Rochman, H. (2006, September 15). Daughters for sale. Booklist 103(2), 54.
Reader’s Annotation
While some teenagers are lucky enough to go to school, get married and start a family Lakshmi is sold and forced into prostitution at the age of thirteen.
About the Author
Patricia McCormick’s four novels have garnered her high praise within the young adult community along with numerous awards. In addressing difficult (and often taboo) subjects such as cutting, child prostitution, the Iraq war, and drug use, McCormick gives disenfranchised youth a voice.
McCormick was not always a novelist (indeed her first book only appeared in 2000). Initially she was a journalist who worked at a variety of companies such as The New York Times, Parents magazine, and Reader’s Digest. She was in turn an entertainment columnist, an editor and even a teacher. Her teaching career took her a school in Queens, New York as well as prestigious Columbia University. She currently lives in New York with her husband, two children and two cats.
Information gleaned from Patricia McCormick’s website:
http://www.pattymccormick.com/index.php?mode=objectlist§ion_id=111&object_id=166
Genre
Fiction-in-verse, Realistic Fiction
Tags
Child prostitution, India, Nepal, abusive fathers
Curriculum Ties
A good novel to study when examining women’s rights, Nepalese and Indian history, and current events.
Booktalk Ideas
--Show photos of girls rescued from prostitution with a brief synopsis of how they escaped and what life was like after they escaped.
--Show a map of Nepal, India, and the United States with little dots indicating where brothels have been raided.
Reading Level/Interest Age
Reading Level: 5th grade
Interest Level: 9th-12th grade (14-18 yrs.)
Reading and interest levels are according to the Scholastic Book Wizard: http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/viewWorkDetail.do?workId=1159451&
Challenge Issues
This book is graphic in nature and includes rape and child abuse. If it were to be challenged, librarians should point to statistics about child prostitution, not only those abroad but those that happen within the United States. Child prostitution is still a huge problem and rarely receives the attention and advocacy it needs in order to be eradicated.
Favorite Quotes
“ ‘Why,’ I say, ‘must women suffer so?’ ‘This has always been our fate,’ she [her mother] says. ‘Simply to endure,’ she says, ‘is to triumph.’” (p. 16)
Why Was This Included?
I decided to read this book as it was recommended by several blogs. Additionally, it is also a National Book Award Finalist. I also wanted to explore the issue of child prostitution as it is a current problem that is rarely addressed, particularly if it occurs in the United States. I originally planned to read Sold alongside of Tricks by Ellen Hopkins but was so disturbed by the material that could not bring myself to read Tricks. Blogs that mentioned this title are Black-Eyed Susan's (http://blackeyedsusans.blogspot.com/2010/01/unsung-ya-heroes.html), This Purple Crayon (http://thispurplecrayon.blogspot.com/2010/01/best-ya-books-youve-never-read.html), and DogEar (http://nicolepoliti.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/top-100-young-adult-novels/).
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