Imagine living in a poor country with your mom, dad, and siblings all living in a small, old, hut that you call your home. Imagine that all of the food you eat has to be grown in your own backyard and the only way to get fresh, clean water is to set out a bucket to catch the rain. Now imagine that the only way to get money for your family is to move to the city all by yourself to work. But you soon find out that what you thought that you would be doing to earn money is all a lie, and the work you have to do is very bad and is against your beliefs and everything you have been taught.

This is what happened to 13 year-old Lakshmi in Sold. She lives with her family in a small hut in the mountains of Nepal. They are very poor but she loves life's simple pleasures. Like looking after her small black and white goat, having her mother brush her hair, and running around her house barefoot. When the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away her family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather tells her that she has to leave home, and work to support her family.

Lakshmi thinks she is going to work for a lady they met in town as a maid, and she is actually excited to take on the responsibility. She goes on a long journey to India with the stranger and they end up at the “happiness house”, but she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has actually been sold into prostitution.

Sold is the type of book that keeps you wondering what will happen next and touches your heart at the same time. As you read, you will walk with Lakshmi on her long, terrifying journey at the “happiness house”.

I found out about Sold by my friend Leslie when she recommended it to me, and now I am recommending it to all girls. Sold is a touching, wonderful story filled with suspense, courage, and love, that every girl should read at some point in their life. So if you are looking for a book with any of those features, be sure to pick up Sold my Patricia McCormick. You wont be disappointed!