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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Physical abuse and violence in the trafficking context
Language
Barely any
Restrained language; the verse form imposes a spare quality on the prose
Sexual Content
A lot
Child sexual trafficking depicted; not graphically explicit but the reality is clear and disturbing
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
The psychological devastation of a child sold into sexual slavery — and her gradual understanding of what has happened — is the novel's full weight
What this book is about
Patricia McCormick's National Book Award finalist follows thirteen-year-old Lakshmi, who is sold by her stepfather into what she believes is domestic work in the city — and discovers she has been trafficked into a brothel in Calcutta. Told entirely in short, spare poems from Lakshmi's perspective, the novel is devastating but never gratuitous. McCormick uses restraint to make the horror more accessible and the resilience more visible. An important and difficult book widely assigned in schools. For mature readers.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Child sex trafficking as central subject
Extremely difficult content despite restrained presentation
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