Written in free verse, the girl's first-person narration is horrifying and difficult to read. Refusing to "be with men," she is beaten and starved until she gives in. Then her gambling-addicted stepfather sells her into prostitution in India. This important book was written in their honor.-> Alexa Sandmann, Kent State University, OHĪs 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.
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. An author's note confirms what readers fear: thousands of girls, like Lakshmi in this story, are sold into prostitution each year. 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. She is told that if she works off her family's debt, she can leave, but she soon discovers that this is virtually impossible. "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. 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.
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