CI 5441: McCormick Response

McCormick, Patricia. Sold. New York: Hyperion Paperbacks, 2008.

Sold tells the story of Lakshmi a young girl living in a remote village in Nepal with her mother, stepfather, and stepbrother. Life in their mountain village is difficult and Lakshmi and her mother slave away in order to make a living for the family. Lakshmi’s stepfather is incapable of working and gambles what little money the family has. As a result, the stepfather sells Lakshmi off to a woman who promises to take her to a better life as a maid in the city—little does Lakshmi know that she is really being sold into prostitution. After arriving in India, Lakshmi finally becomes aware of her fate. Despite her efforts to resist her new situation, she is drugged and raped; and so her new life begins. Lakshmi forms relationships with the women around her and her desire to learn never wavers. Over the course of a year she does her best to try and pay off her debt to Mumtaz—the owner of the brothel—while still maintaining the belief that she is providing her mother and brother with a better life. In the end it is her continued interest in education that helps her escape her circumstances.

The book is written in prose verse and is a very quick and compelling read. McCormick is able to use a sparse amount of words to capture not only the Nepalese lifestyle and the horrific shift in Lakshmi’s life, but also the depth of conviction, hope, and faith that Lakshmi refuses to let go. The premise for the book was researched by McCormick and in her author’s note she recounts the different survivors of sex-trafficking that she had spoken with during the pre-writing stage of the novel. I think this book is a great way to introduce readers to the continued injustices in the world and to make them aware of the precious gift that is freedom. I think the book will resonate with young readers who are the same age as Lakshmi—male or female. Lakshmi is just a young girl who is naïve and trusting of those around her; she expects to be able to trust her stepfather and the women and men she encounters on her journey from Nepal into India, but it is not so. I enjoyed gaining a new perspective and understanding on a terrifying and horrific subject that I was not truly cognizant of before and I think McCormick brings this subject to life with Lakshmi’s tale.

I think the book is teachable because it lends itself to different kinds of exploration. Students can look at the format of the book and discuss what that brings to the text—how and why does McCormick use this medium? The book allows students to focus on a world issue that they might not be aware still exists—human slavery. The book also can be used with different critical lenses—the most obvious being the gender perspective, but also colonialist, reader-response, and even socio-economic. The issue of education and the power of knowledge is also an element that can be targeted in the book. I can also see myself using this book as a gateway between fiction and reality; students could research human-trafficking and the different aspects of that underground market that still exist in the world today. The book is also relatable to students either from the different themes—trust, family, the unknown, power of knowledge, community, faith—to the ability to project one’s own thirteen-year-old self into such a dire predicament.