About the Author

To research Sold, Patricia McCormick traveled to India and Nepal, where she interviewed the women of Calcutta's red-light district and girls who have been rescued from the sex trade. Patricia is a two-time National Book Award finalist, and the author of five critically acclaimed novels, among them Never Fall Down, the story of a boy who survived the Killing Fields of Cambodia by playing music for the Khmer Rouge. Her other books include the YA classic Cut, and the young readers' edition of I Am Malala, the story of the Pakistani girl who was targeted by the Taliban for standing up for education. She lives in Manhattan.

Reviews

National Book Award Finalist
Publishers Weekly, Best 100 Books of the Year
NPR's Best Books of the Year
American Library Association, Top Ten List, Best Books of the Year
Gustav-Heinemann Peace Prize
Booklist Editor's Choice Award
New York Public Library Best Books for Teens
Children's Literature Council's Choice
Book Sense Pick *"Hard-hitting ... poignant. The author beautifully balances the harshness of brothel life with the poignant relationships among its residents." - Publishers Weekly starred review


*"An unforgettable account of sexual slavery as it exists now."--Booklist starred review

"SOLD is a demanding at times painful book to read. These challenges, however, only serve to heighten the impact of the powerful and important novel that sheds light on a global crisis."--Teenreads.com

"Heartbreaking ... McCormick's research for this novel involved interviewing women in Nepal and India, and her depth of detail makes the characters believable and their misery palpable. This important book was written in their honor."--SLJ

"McCormick provides readers who live in safety and under protection of the law with a vivid window into a harsh and cruel world--one most would prefer to pretend doesn't exist."--Kirkus

"McCormick uses language both lyrical and spare to lead the reader into this deeply troubled and troubling world ...this is a story of courage, which is precisely what it takes to plant one's literary work in unfamiliar soil." --Children's Literature

"The writing is breathtaking in both its simplicity and attention to detail ... stunning ... this novel is not to be missed."--Voice of Youth Advocates

Gr 9 Up-As this heartbreaking story opens, 13-year-old Lakshmi lives an ordinary life in Nepal, going to school and thinking of the boy she is to marry. Then her gambling-addicted stepfather sells her into prostitution in India. Refusing to "be with men," she is beaten and starved until she gives in. Written in free verse, the girl's first-person narration is horrifying and difficult to read. "In between, men come./They crush my bones with their weight./They split me open./Then they disappear." "I hurt./I am torn and bleeding where the men have been." The spare, unadorned text matches the barrenness of Lakshmi's new life. She is told that if she works off her family's debt, she can leave, but she soon discovers that this is virtually impossible. When a boy who runs errands for the girls and their clients begins to teach her to read, she feels a bit more alive, remembering what it feels like to be the "number one girl in class again." When an American comes to the brothel to rescue girls, Lakshmi finally gets a sense of hope. An author's note confirms what readers fear: thousands of girls, like Lakshmi in this story, are sold into prostitution each year. Part of McCormick's research for this novel involved interviewing women in Nepal and India, and her depth of detail makes the characters believable and their misery palpable. This important book was written in their honor.-Alexa Sandmann, Kent State University, OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

"An unforgettable account of sexual slavery as it exists now."
"Readers can't help but be moved by Lakshmi's fate."