Sold

Acclaimed author and journalist Patricia McCormick was born May 23, 1956, in Washington, D.C. Raised in Central Pennsylvania with devout Catholic parents, McCormick knew she wanted to be a writer from a young age, despite her parents’ concerns that writing wouldn’t provide her with enough stability. She attended Rosemont College, Columbia University, and the New School, earning an MS and MFA, and she has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award. To write the novel Sold (2006), McCormick conducted research in Southeast Asia, interviewing survivors of sex trafficking and their families and touring brothels in order to tell an authentic, realistic story about the subject. In 2014, Sold was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Jeffrey D. Brown and starring Gillian Anderson, David Arquette, and Niyar Saikia. Following her success with young adult novels Cut (2000), Sold, and Never Fall Down (2012), McCormick co-authored Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai’s 2013 autobiography I Am Malala, a bestseller that received international acclaim. McCormick currently lives and writes in New York City.

Sold paints a somewhat sparse, but unflinchingly vivid, picture of child sex trafficking. Human trafficking—the second-most profitable illegal industry in the United States, according to UNICEF—is an international crime that involves the exploitation of vulnerable people, typically through force, fraud, or coercion, for purposes such as forced labor and sexual exploitation, effectively amounting to modern-day enslavement. Young girls and women are particularly at risk, especially in regions like South Asia, where extreme poverty and remoteness, a lack of education, and limited economic opportunities make them prime targets. Traffickers often lure girls with false promises of employment or education, only to then trap them in cycles of abuse and manipulation. In certain countries, such as Nepal and India, trafficking networks are widespread—just like what happens to Lakshmi, girls are not only trafficked within their own countries, but also across borders. The various traumas that victims sustain from trafficking not only devastate their lives, but they also perpetuate systems of poverty and marginalization, making human trafficking an imperative human rights issue.

There are several compelling follow-ups to Sold that explore similar themes of survival, traumatic experiences, and the resilience of young girls and women. Two of McCormick’s other popular novels, Cut and Never Fall Down, delve into harsh realities faced by especially vulnerable youth—Cut addresses self-harm and mental health, while Never Fall Down tells the story of a boy surviving the Cambodian genocide. Ellen Hopkins’s Tricks and Crank, both also verse novels that are frequently featured on banned book lists due to their explicit content, explore issues of exploitation, addiction, and the struggles of young people trapped in cycles of abuse, making them particularly resonant with the prominent themes in Sold. Similarly, Shobha Rao’s Girls Burn Brighter offers a powerful narrative about two Indian girls whose friendship endures despite the brutal realities of trafficking, echoing Lakshmi’s experiences. Another frequently banned book, Toni Morrison’s acclaimed first novel, The Bluest Eye, examines the devastating effects of racism and sexual abuse on a young girl’s identity. Lastly, Rachel Lloyd’s memoir, Girls Like Us: Fighting for A World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, provides a non-fiction counterpart to the (largely) fictional aforementioned stories. In it, Lloyd details her personal experiences as a survivor and advocate for girls hoping to escape sexual enslavement.