McCormick, Patricia. Sold.McCORMICK, Patricia. Sold. Hyperion. 264p. c2006. 0-7868-5171-6. $15.99. JSA JSA - Japanese Standards Association. To prepare to write this novel (in poetry format), McCormick traveled to Nepal and India to interview prostitutes in brothels BROTHELS, crim. law. Bawdy-houses, the common habitations of prostitutes; such places have always been deemed common nuisances in the United States, and the keepers of them may be fined and imprisoned. 2. and also girls who have been rescued from the sex trade. In her note at the end of the story she says, "Each year, nearly 12,000 Nepali girls are sold by their families--intentionally or unwittingly--to a life of sexual slavery Sexual slavery is a special case of slavery which includes various different practices:
Sold is the story of one young Nepali girl who is sold by her stepfather step·fa·ther n. The husband of one's mother and not one's natural father. stepfather Noun a man who has married one's mother after the death or divorce of one's father Noun 1. into prostitution prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. . She is 14-years-old when she is rescued by some Americans who visit brothels in India to find young girls who want to escape. Lakshmi is the narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. . She is a young village girl with a loving mother, baby brother, and greedy stepfather in Nepal, where such girls and women in general know no other way than to obey the men in their family. Soon after she gets her first period, her stepfather starts looking at her as a thing to sell for a profit, not as a human being. In the narrative, McCormick details how the cruel system works, with naive girls believing they are going to get jobs as maids to send money to their family. They end up in brothels with no way to escape. The life in the brothels is described in some detail, from the beatings and the drugging of innocent young girls to force them to submit to men, to the dubious joy of TV and babies, to the way some few girls are being rescued. It's frightening--most girls become diseased dis·eased adj. 1. Affected with disease. 2. Unsound or disordered. , dying young of AIDS. The men who pay the brothel owners to sleep with the girls are not required to wear condoms, and the girls have no power to protect themselves. This is an important story, and McCormick tells it well. The cover, a photograph of the face of a young girl, is compelling. Claire Rosser, KLIATT J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion