Sold

I just reread this book moments ago and it is as moving as I remember it. SOLD is the story of a 13 year old Nepali girl who is sold into prostitution in India by her stepfather. It is told in the form of poetry and it is not for the faint of heart.

What happens to Lakshmi when she leaves her tiny Himalayan village is told in sparse language from her point of view. If this were a regular prose novel it would be too hard to read. McCormick carefully chooses her words to convey the emotion and day to day life of oppressed girls without going into too much physical detail.

McCormick, whose previous book CUT also dealt with controversial issues, traveled to India and Nepal and interviewed many girls who escaped from human trafficking.

Nepal is also represented in Summer Reading this year by INTO THIN AIR, the story of an Everest expedition gone horribly horribly wrong.