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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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Publisher Description
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST!
Discover the power and hope of this acclaimed, bestselling, often-banned novel that gives voice to a young girl robbed of her childhood.
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in Nepal. They’ve always made ends meet, but when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job. He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who promises to find her work as a maid in the city. To help her family, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns an unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.
Lakshmi's life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she tries to live by her mother's words—Simply to endure is to triumph. Gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new reality, until the day comes when she must make a decision: will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?
Written in spare and evocative verse vignettes by the acclaimed co-author of I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition), this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who dares to dream of more than just survival.
* “Hard-hitting ... 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)
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
Customer Reviews
My honest opinion.
I don’t even know where to start. This novel is the first and only piece of literature that has me sobbing at the end. From a 13 year old girl named Lakshmi enjoying the simple wonders in her life, being able to describe things around her as full of innocence and purity, even if it is something so simply as a grain of dirt, to transitioning into a more graphic description of her dreadful experience in sexual slavery takes you on a heartbreaking journey the more you read the novel and make interpretations as the reader. The author does such a spectacular job of describing every action and piece of setting in the book in addition to capturing the raw emotion of each part, making it feel as if you yourself was experiencing this in first person. This novel as a whole is a weird yet breathtaking mix of beauty and sadness, now I know the meaning of a rollercoaster of emotions. Not to mention, the very last thing Lakshmi says at the end of the book is just honest to god so heartbreaking and even as I write this I tear up thinking about it every time. I read this novel as a homework assignment and thought it was gonna be another obnoxious book teachers always assign students as work, but wow, I never predicted for me to be so invested in this novel. I will definitely read the other pieces of work that have been put out by Patricia McCormick in my free time. Finishing off my obnoxiously long review, I wish I had better words to describe this novel because it is honestly such an amazing work of literature. (This is entirely based off of my very personal thoughts and opinions, please don’t be disappointed if you did not feel as enlightened as I have lol.)