Sold by Patricia McCormick - Book Talk

Sold by Patricia McCormick

Summary:

Twelve year old Lakshmi has grown up and lived in a small mountain village in Nepal with her goat, little brother, her mother, and her deadbeat step-dad. After the rain washes all of the rice away Lakshmi’s stepfather decides she will go and work in the city. A woman who calls herself Auntie Bimla who takes money from the stepfather and walks away from Lakshmi. Lakshmi travels through the country and across the border into India with Uncle Husband, who she met at the border. Uncle Husband then takes her to Happiness House where the reality of her situation sets in as Uncle Husband gives a woman named Mumtaz money and leaves. Lakshmi is taken to a room where a man tries to rape her, she escapes and Mumtaz corners her and tells Lakshmi that she has to work, as a prostitute, to pay off the debt Mumtaz has from paying to acquire Lakshmi. Lakshmi refuses and Mumtaz attempts to break her by beating her daily and starving her, when this doesn’t work Mumtaz drugs Lakshmi and has a man rape her. She is drugged to service the brothel customers for an unknown amount of time, and Mumtaz lets Lakshmi out and interact with the other girls. Lakshmi finds a sense of sense of normal in her life but it crumbles as her friends are leaving the brothel. When Lakshmi learns that none of the money she is making is being sent home, as she had been told it was, she decides to take a stand. She gets in contact with an American and makes a plan to bust the brothel. The American returns with non-corrupt police officers and Lakshmi walks straight to the American and states her name and age. Lakshmi, fourteen.

Why this Text?:

I picked this text for a number of reasons.

1.     The first and foremost is because this is one of the most impactful books I’ve read in the last year. I often find myself still thinking about this book in moments when my mind wanders. The story and what Lakshmi goes through in two long years. On top of the fact that Lakshmi’s experiences are something that girls are going through in real life makes this book such an important read for anyone.

2.     Another reason that I chose this text is because of Patricia McCormick’s choice to write it in poetry instead of prose. The delivery of the story in lines makes the reading of the story hit a different level within the reader as the words have to be focused on. With a few stanzas per page instead of paragraphs the reader is able to more easily reread a poem or page to really understand what is being said as well.

I would give this text to upper level high school students, AP/Honors 11^th or 12^th graders. The content of the text is a hard read, while the novel is short there is no way all of it can be read in one sitting. The content demands a more mature audience who will look at the issues and understand the implications and allusions to what is happening. The text works with a real world issue, and literature is a strong vehicle to introduce students to issues in the world that they may have never heard of before.

Teaching Ideas:

1.     This text could be used as in a lesson or unit on different ways of telling a story, as the entire book is written in poetry and this affects the impact of the story on the reader.

2.     This text would also tie nicely into a current events lesson since it deals with a problem in the real world that happens not only in India but also here in the united states.

3.     Lakshmi shows immense character development throughout the novel lending nicely to a character study or analysis lesson.

Obstacles:

This text works with an extremely touchy subject, sex trafficking and the experience of a young girl going through that. Parents and administrators may find the rape scenes to graphic for students to read.  The topic of rape and assault be triggering topic for students.