The students at my school, including my own two children, travel to other countries at least a few times each year. I work at a private international school in China. But how important is this for today’s teens to understand? Could reading this book save one of them from Lakshmi’s fate? It contains horrific abuse, rape scenes, drug use, and violence. So I read this to preview content for a potential ninth grade reading selection, and I do plan to give it a green-light. Seriously, what is wrong with people? How can we have so many sick, perverted, nasty, twisted people in the world? And of course, the scores of disgusting men who visit Happiness House each night in search of a young girl they can force their will on. Mumtaz, the “matron” of Happiness House beats Lakshmi, drugs her, and profits from her forced prostitution. Uncle-husband takes Lakshmi across the border to India and hands her over, fully-knowing the fate that awaits her. Some children are kidnapped, and some, like Lakshmi, are sold off to pay debts. But what is done to stop it? Sure, there are organizations dedicated to sniffing out traffickers and prostitution houses, but the tide continues to roll. We hear about human trafficking, child labor, and sex slaves every day in the news. That’s the only way I can explain how a story like Sold could possibly reflect real life in today’s world. Sent to India to live in “Happiness House,” Lakshmi is drugged, abused, and raped daily. Lakshmi is told she will become a maid in the city, but she is, in fact, sold into prostitution. Until she is sold to pay her stepfather’s debts. Her family is poor, but Lakshmi is happy with life’s simple pleasures. Thirteen-year old Lakshmi lives in the mountains with her mother, stepfather, and baby brother.

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