Sold by Patricia McCormick

Lakshmi has spent all of her thirteen years in her small village in the mountains of Nepal, working hard and trying to make the best of things despite her thoughtless, gambling step-father. But when the family loses what little they have in a monsoon, her stepfather’s solution is to sell Lakshmi into prostitution. Thinking she is going to the city to work as a maid, Lakshmi ends up captive in a brothel in Calcutta, told she must earn her way free.

Told in captivatingly sparse free-verse, Lakshmi’s story unfolds in a series of powerful vignettes. Through Lakshmi the reader meets a cast of richly detailed supporting characters, who create a vivid world where Lakshmi’s struggle for freedom and justice comes to life.

Sold is a very intense look at the realities of child sex trafficking. While McCormick deals very sensitively and honestly with an incredibly difficult and brutal topic, teachers and librarians may still want to recommend this book to mature readers. -- Regan Schwartz

McCormick, Patricia. Sold. New York: Hyperion, 2006.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

After Kristina returns to her mom’s from reuniting with her wayward father, she is left disheveled, uncertain, scattered and addicted. Now she must re-enter her old life battling a new monster - a deep-seated yearning for crystal meth. As if the plot line isn't enough to lure you in, Hopkins breaches the traditional construct of fiction with a novel composed entirely of narrative, free verse and concrete poems. Poetic language brings the poignant and dangerous struggle of a teenage girl's unexpected and swift addiction to crystal meth to life. A perfect fit for National Poetry Month, Crank is likely to entice the average poetry reader and those resistant to the genre alike. The novel moves at a swift and frenzied pace, expertly emulating the tumultuous effects of drug use. Students are drawn to the raw, and often startling, honesty of the writing, as well as to Kristina's untidy and realistic tale. Crank does not attempt to sweep issues under the carpet, rather, it leaves the room messy and forthright, calling the reader to come in and see. -- Lisa Buckton

Passages Academy will welcome author Ellen Hopkins via Skype™ for a discussion of her work and Q & A session with students later this month. Please stay tuned to our blog for further details!


Hopkins, Ellen. Crank. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2004.