Sold
McCormick, Patricia, 2008.
Sold.
New York: Hyperion Books.
263 pages, paperback. $8.99
ISBN 9780786851720.
Format: alternate format book
Plot Summary
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Nepal, with her mother Ama, her stepfather, and her baby brother. She thinks of Krishna, the boy to whom she is promised in marriage. She dreams of a tin roof so the fires won’t go out and her family won’t get sick, she dreams of food for the baby, a sweater for her Ama. In her family, dreams cost nothing; Lakshmi and Ama imagine the ways their life can be better, planting seed in an extra field, fabric for a new dress for Lakshmi, some new thatch for the roof.
Lashkmi is willing to work as a maid to help her family because she loves them so. When the rains come and wash away their crop, her family is left with nothing. No money to pay the landlord, no money to pay back uncle Gita for last season’s seed, no money to patch the roof.
One morning, when her stepfather returns from a night playing cards at the tea room Lakshmi is told by Ama that she will go to the city to work as a maid. Her stepfather is paid 800 rupees, half up front and the other half after Lakshmi proves her worth. This she does not understand, yet she leaves with the beautiful lady who promises she will get a job as a maid for a rich lady, who promises that Ama will get the money. There is no maid’s job; there is no money sent home to Ama.
Critical Evaluation
Sold is written in short vignettes that are incredibly powerful for their sparse and careful selection of every word. McCormick’s decision to write from innocence exposes readers to each horror as Lakshmi experiences it. Written from the perspective of Lakshmi, our thirteen-year-old main character, McCormick introduces readers to two contrasting worlds: living poorly yet free to imagine in a hut on a hillside in Nepal and living caged and controlled in a brothel in the slums of Calcutta trapped by a debt that can never be repaid.
McCormick shows Lakshmi initially fighting with all her being, and after being starved, drugged, and beaten she finally submits to her duties, which makes this a difficult read for many students. Progressing in the story, readers do see that Lakshmi begins to adapt, yet never really give in as she holds true to the promise to her mother and the hope for something better. She adapts, she makes friends, she learns to read, and she continues to dream; it will be what saves her in the end. As understandable as it is that the reality of this kind of story doesn’t usually have a happy ending – it is critical for this story, and our readers that Lakshmi find some happiness after so much heartbreak.
Reader’s Annotation
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl living in a small hut with her family in Nepal, and though extremely poor she enjoys simple things like playing games with her best friend, going to school, and having her mom brush her hair gently. Her world drastically changes when she is introduced to an enchanting stranger and told she will be the maid of a rich lady in the city, and instead sold into a house of prostitution.
Information About the Author
Patricia McCormick grew up in a typical suburban development. She earned an MS from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1985 and an MFA from The New School in 1999. McCormick’s writing career began when she was young, writing plays that her little sisters would help perform. She began her paid career as a newspaper journalist and teacher of creative writing, and now mostly writes fiction.
McCormick’s first novel was Cut, followed by My Brother’s Keeper before she published Sold and Purple Heart. She gets many of her story ideas from newspaper articles or stories she’s read heard about through friends. She currently lives in New York City with her family.
(McCormick, 2011).
Genre
Fiction: Multicultural – Asia
Read-Alikes
The Song of Kahunsha by Anosh Irani
Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
Curriculum Ties
Sold is one of the book choices used for English 11 for its themes of social injustice and its multicultural elements.
Booktalking Ideas
1) Lakshmi with her family, going to school and dreaming of marrying
2) when Lakshmi realizes she is not to be a rich ladies maid but something else entirely
Book Trailer Links
Book Trailer by Reader
Reading Level/Interest Age
Grade 9 and up / YA
Challenge Issues
gambling, prostitution, sex slave
First, I would share some of the recommendations used as part of the selection process, including reviews from resources as noted below. Next, I would point out the value in allowing these types of materials to be optional reading as teens grow ever closer to adulthood and making their own decisions. Finally, following our school district’s policy #KEC, after explaining that our school district’s philosophy is that no parent or group of parents has the right to determine the reading matter for children other than their own, I would refer the parent or community member to the building principal, so that he/she can file a written complaint to begin the process of review.
Awards
South Carolina’s Book Award Nominee for YA Book, 2009
ALA’s Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, 2007
National Book Award finalist, 2006
Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee, 2009
James Cook Book Award Nominee, 2007
Why Title Included & Selection Tools
Sold was included because it holds such a powerful story of tragedy and redemption, one that exemplifies some of the uglier parts of human society and one that most of our students are fortunate to not have any first-hand knowledge of, yet critical that they become aware of their risks before they move beyond their protected rural hometowns.
School Library Journal, Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, VOYA
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