Sold-- Patricia McCormick

I am of two minds about this book.

This is one of those stories that is everywhere, but worth a close look. Lakshmi and her mother live in a Bangladeshi village, in one of the few mud huts with traditional thatched roofs. The neighbors have tin roofs over their heads, but then again, the men in those families don't drink and gamble away their money like Lakshmi's stepfather does. Her family's situation becomes more and more desperate until Lakshmi's stepfather sells her to do work in the city. Lakshmi is told she will work as a maid, but everyone else knows she is brothel-bound.

The prose is self is good-- evocative free verse, exploring village life in Bangladesh and, later, brothel life in India. The images and feelings ring true.

The glaring deficiency in Sold is the lack of character development. At age 12, Lakshmi worships her mother and vaguely dislikes her stepfather. Her feelings really don't develop much by the time that she's 14 except it's clear that doesn't like being a prostitute. From her actions, we can imply that Lakshmi is clever, loves learning, and has a determined streak, but there is nothing personal or distinguishing about her voice.

This deficiency matters here, because it makes the difference between a book about a "real" person and a book about an issue. This, unfortunately, is the latter. I felt that Lakshmi was a convenient vehicle for this story; the narrative objectified her even as it heavy-handedly asserted the fact of her humanity. It surprises me that authors get away with this as often as they do, frankly.

The ending was particularly sloppy and the last part rendered the character of Lakshmi completely hollow for me. Disappointing.