Independent+Novel+Study

SOLD- Patricia McCormick PG# 1-56 Friday, December. 3rd, 2010

I selected this novel (SOLD) because the title seemed interesting. It has a picture of a girl on it with most of her face covered. It's a black and white picture with a colourful yellow background. What also drew me in was the plot summary. In it was explained a bit about what happens in the beginning and a little bit of what's to come. So far in the story we know a little bit about Lakshmi (the main character), her Ama (mother), and her step-dad. Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her Ama and step-dad in their hut on the side of a mountain in the Himalayas. There home isn't very good. The roof leaks and it gets very cold sometimes. So you can say that the living conditions aren't that good. Lakshmi is also going to be married next year with a boy named Krishna. He also lives in the same villages and is fourteen-years-old. Krishna sounds like a very nice boy that is a bit shy but very friendly. He doesn't do drugs or other bad things and I think that's why Lakshmi likes him so much and spies on him whenever she can. Her Ama is a very strong and hard-working woman. She's had 4 miscarriages and at the moment two children- Lakshmi and a baby boy. Ama does all of the housework with the help of Lakshmi. She does whatever her husband tells her to do without complaint and goes on with whatever supplies they have and can afford which is very little. Lakshmi's step-dad is the opposite. He gambles away all of their money at the pawn shop and buys unnessicary things all the time. He has a limp arm so he can't work and earn money for the family. Lakshmi doesn't like him very much at all but deals with him anyways because her mother says that they're lucky to have a man in the house at all. (Lakshmi's father died.) At the moment, Lakshmi's family is running very low on their money because of a flood that happened a bit earlier. It wrecked al of their crop so they have nothing to sell for money. So her step-dad makes the decision to sell Lakshmi for money. He goes to the pawn shop and asks the woman from the city how much she's willing to offer for her (Lakshmi). After some negotiation Lakshmi is sold and her step-dad is greedily looking around the pawn shop to see what he can buy with his newly found fortune. The story it told from Lakshmi's point of view and I think that it's very effective because it's good to know what she's thinking about all of the thing that are happening to her. It's all happening so quickly and it's a bit difficult for her to understand. After all, she is only a teenager. It's very amusing and entertaining to read about how she interprets what's happening around her because she doesn't know much due to where she lives. So the interaction with many people is quite limited. But she does with what she has and only hopes for the better. I'm think that this story is going to turn out to be very, very good!

(questions 1, 4, and 5)

10/10

SOLD- Patricia McCormick PG# 57-109 Friday, December. 10th, 2010

So far in the story Lakshmi has started to travel to the city. Auntie and her have traveled through many villages and have travelled for two and a half days. Lakshmi has so many questions about the city, but Auntie tells her to be quite and that she'll she for herself when she gets there. Auntie's feet get tired so they hitch a ride with someone on a bullock cart. Auntie sits with the two men in the front while Lakshmi sits in the back with the animals. She is scared to death when she hears the engine roar to life. She also gets sick from the moving of the vehicle and throws-up. Next, they get into the small city. Lakshmi sees many different things that she's never seen before. They travel along and then they catch a bus. Lakshmi learns a bit about the different vehicles but gets scared again when she sees an oncoming bus. They get to a building and Auntie tells Lakshmi to get out of her hill clothes and put on some city clothes. Lakshmi's shoes cause her feet great pain because she's not use to them. Next, Lakshmi is traded for money. A man then tells her to call her husband until they cross the border or she'll get taken away and will never get back home again. After crossing the border, Lakshmi and Uncle Husband get on a train. Lakshmi is stunned by it and can't understand how people can fall asleep when there is so much to see. While at the train station, Lakshmi sees a girl getting her head shaved because she ran away from her husband. She is now disgraced. After this incident they (Lakshmi and Uncle Husband) make their way to 'Happy House'. Happy House is a place for prostitutes but Lakshmi doesn't know this. She is then bought once again by the lady that runs the place. Next, some of the girls take her to her room to put her belongings away and get her all dressed up for 'work'. After sometime alone, Auntie Mumtaz (the owner) come to get Lakshmi for her first job. She is taken into a room where an old man is sitting on a bed. When he tries to kiss her, she bites down really hard on to his lip and runs back to her room. Mumtaz runs quickly (or as quickly a lady of her size can) after her and demands to know what happened. She ( Lakshmi) doesn't even know where she even is so Mumtaz tells her that she's in a prostitute house. Lakshmi cries her eyes out. Mumtaz also cuts off her hair so even if she (Lakshmi) does try to runs off, no one will help her and will bring her back right here.

You don't need to know much before the story even begins. Sure there are a few words that may be unclear to you if you don't speak or know a bit of Hindi/Punjabi, but you can look them up. They are not that hard to interpret either. The words are very simple and most people that probably don't even speak a bit of Hindi/Punjabi would figure them out. As for the story line, no. You don't need to know anything before the story starts because everything is explained to you as you read the story. (question 2)

The setting of the novel is in the Himalayan Mountains (at the beginning) and then in India (currently). I don't think that the setting could be anywhere else because the story would be so different and probably wouldn't make sense in a few places. Some of the words used in the story would also be different I guess because they are a few words in hindi and alot of the customs and things that take place in the book are based on the Hindu culture. So, no. I don't think that the setting could be anywhere else. (question 6)

The initial problem that Lakshmi faces is when she brought to Happy House and is forced to get into a room with an old man. She is very scared and frightened and doesn't know what to do. Lakshmi wants to go home but she doesn't know where she is to begin with and would definately get lost even if she tried. She faces many small problems before this like not knowing whether or not to bow down and greet someone or how to get her feet to stop hurting without making Auntie mad, but these aren't problems that would affect the story much. (question 7)

10/10 SOLD- Patricia McCormick PG# 110-162 Friday, December. 17th, 2010

Now in the story Mumtaz is whipping Lakshmi because she isn't sleeping with the men. After this tactic doesn't work, she tries to strave her. This doesn't work either because Lakshmi already knows how that feels and knows how to prevent from being too hungry. Shahanna brings Lakshmi in a cup of tea to put something into her stomach. Lakshmi is very thankful for this and is saddened when the tea is gone from the cup too quickly. Mumtaz gives up and decides to let her (Lakshmi) live. The aging bird girl brings Lakshmi a cup of Mango Lassi. After drinking the lassi, she feels very dizzy and tired. The lassi was druggged. When Lakshmi woke up, there was a man on top of her by the name of Habib. He tells her that he is good in bed and continues doing what he's doing. Lakshmi just cries herself to sleep during and after Habib has left. Many men come and go and Lakshmi soon looses track of both the days that have gone by and the men that've come into her room. She is very sore because of the weight of the men crushing her from underneath and from her legs being stretched. Lakshmi misses her home in Nepal every single day. After what seems like a couple of days, Mumtaz takes her out of the room and takes her to room with 4 beds and 6 other people. This is where she'll bring her customers from now on. Each bed is surrounded by a bed sheet curtain. When you have a customer, you draw the curtain around your bed. The other 5 people are Shanhanna, Anita, and Pushpa who is the mother of two- a boy named Harish who's 8 and a girl named Jeena who's just a toddler. Lakshmi is now allowed to roam the house. She eats with everyone else but now has to get her own customers. When the men come to Happiness House they get the choice of who they want to sleep with. Whoever they choose will get some of the profit. The girls must attract the men to make money to pay off their debts to Mumtaz. There is one girl, however, that makes the most money out of all of them. Her name is Monica. She'll be able to go back home in two months becuase that's how long it'll take for her to pay the rest of debt. She knows how to bring the men in and offers some advice to Lakshmi too. Lakshmi is very jealous of Harish because he can read and write and is free. He's doing the things that she used to do. Harish, however, is also learning english. Lakshmi sees one of his book in his box underneath Pushpa's bed. So when he left for school she oped his box and took it from him. When Harish came back from school and saw Lakshmi with the book he wasn't mad, but rather pitied her. He let her have the book but she refused. Harish promised to teach Lakshmi english so she could read the book on her own. He also said that he would teach her more Hindi (The language that was spoken in the mountains wasn't Hindi, it was another language. Some of the worlds were similar though so this is how they communicated.). Lakshmi learns a bit about the other gurks as the time progresses and knows how they came to live here and why. She also is amazed by the television they have there because she's never seen one in her life before. She sees Mumtaz giving a police officer some money. She does this because the police officers are supposed to keep people like Mumtaz from doing what they do, but because she pays him, he doesn't rat her out and also keeps the other officers from doing teir rounds around the prostitution house. Life for Harish is very hard too because some of the older boys make fun of him and call his mom bad things such as a whore. Harish loves his mother very much so he tries to ignore most of what they say. I think that Harish has matured way beyond his years if he's taking all that's happening around him very maturely and calmly. He also is making sure that his mother's feeling ok because he over heard the conversation that Mumtaz had with his mother. Mumtaz said that if she (Pushpa) didn't get better soon and get some men, she'll kick her and her children out to the streets.

Nothing too exciting has happened before the book has started. We do find out though that Lakshmi's father died before the book began and that her step-father took them in because he felt bad about them. He is of no help either because of his arm that is broken so their only income is their crops, if they make it to harvesting time. We also find out that Lakshmi is also going to be married and that the marriage was arranged before the book too. She is to be married the year after. I have written a bit about this in the first entry. (question 3)

The author holds my interest by and twists and additional problems to the original problem. The way that the author writes from Lakshmi's point of view is very intriguing. It makes me want to just read the whole book and get it over with. I guess I'm always eager to read on because Lakshmi's age is close to my own, and I'm interested to see how she reacts to the situtations and problems that are in her path. The author is always adding new bits of information and continuing the plot at a good pace. New things such as another obstacle or something good is added to the already captivating story line. Some examples of this include moving Lakshmi to the room with all of the other girls or introducing new characters such as Harish. (questions 8 and 9 They're combined because they're similar and are sort of connected to one another)

10/10

SOLD- Patricia McCormick PG# 163-206 Friday, January 7th, 2011

In this section, David Beckham boy, whose name is Harish, ask Lakshmi if she wants to learn to read his (Harish's) American storybook. Lakshmi says yes. So everyday after Harish comes home from school, he teaches Lakshmi to read and write a few Hindi words (because where she originally came from they didn't speak Hindi) and some English words as well. As the days go on she learns how to speak both languages and can also say a few sentences as well. One day the TV in Happiness House didn't work so the girls begged Monica and Shilpa to tell them about the movies. So Monica told them about the tale of a girl who was being forced to marry someone but she didn't want to marry him. She ran off to the fair and fell in love with this boy. On her wedding day she cried her eyes out until she saw the boy she loved there as well. The parents realized their love and blessed them as the happy couple got married. Monica and Shilpa only know this because Mumtaz sometimes lets the girls that bring in lots of money to go out. They won't run away because Shilpa's here by choice and Monica has a little girl at home. We also find out that Monica gets to leave in one month. Another character is introduced (he was introduced before but very briefly) in more depth. He is the street boy that brings in the tea everyday. The girls tease him and flirt with him all the time and he flirts back but he never goes into their beds. Another fact that we learn is that Shilpa drinks a lot of liquor. When she was younger her Mom gave it to her so it wouldn't hurt as much when she went in with the men. She used to hate it but now she likes it very much. Harish tells Lakshmi that what Mumtaz said about the Americans to Anita (that if you go with them they will disgrace you) is wrong and that his American lady teacher is very nice. Lakshmi also gets a visit from a very strange visitor. He's not like the others. This person just holds Lakshmi instead of just doing it. Lakshmi finds very much pleasure in this so she just holds him back. It was a very different experience for her because she could for once let herself be herself. He thanks her very shyly as he leaves. She starts to count the days until he gets back but then she realizes that he probably will never come back. One day after their lesson Harish shows Lakshmi a doll that he bought for Jeena, his little baby sister. It is the day of brother's and sister's so this is why he's giving it to her. Next, he pulls out a brand new yellow pencil for Lakshmi. She, Lakshmi, finds an emense joy in this because she's been cheated, disgraced, neglected, tricked, and many more things, but this simple act of kindness just made her feel really good inside. The next day Lakshmi decides to give Harish something back. So she makes a soccer ball for him out of rags tied around very tightly and gives it to him when he comes back from school. He checks it out and then with a nod of approval and a quick thanks he's out the door, kicking the soccer ball around as he goes. The day Monica goes is a very depressing day. She gives all of her things away before she goes. Everyone is extremely sad that afternoon as the cook playing a sad song in memory of Monica. The next day Lakshmi falls a little bit sick. She is cold and then hot and then cold and then hot. Harish feels her head and then goes to get Mumtaz. She gives Lakshmi the medicine and tells her that she'll be able to pay off the debt of the medicine in a few days. In a couple of days, Monica comes back. Her family met her at the gates of their village and begged her not to come back and disgrace them. Her father beat her very badly as well. They even told Monica's little girl that her mother is dead. Pushpa is very sick and can't work so Mumtaz threatens to throw her out until she notices Jeena. She says that many men will pay dearly to be with a pure one becuase they think that it'll cure their diseases. Pushpa vows to never give Jeena to Mumtaz. Ever. So when Harish comes home from school they start packing their bags. Lakshmi asks Harsh where they'll go. Harish tells her that he will ask his American teacher if she knows of a place for them to stay until his mom gets better. There goes another one of Lakshmi's best friends. Lakshmi also has a strange encounter with an American that comes to Happiness House. He doesn't even touch Lakshmi but only talks to her and asks her question. Questions like, "What's your name?" or "Are you being forced to stay here?" and "Would you like to go to someplace better and cleaner?". Lakshmi doesn't respond to anything her says except shrug and say no. Before he leaves though, he gives her a little card with English words and a plane on it. Then he goes off without a word.

The novel is written in a diary type of format. I enjoy reading books like that so I think that it is a good format and it's easy to follow. Even though she doesn't write every single day, there's enough information in each entry to give a feel about what has happened in the days she did not write. (question 11)

I would say that this novel is aimed for an age group around teens to young adults. I think this because I don't think that little kids would be reading books about prostitutes or something... Some of the event that happen or what she describes in some of her entries wouldn't be appropriate for children 12 or younger. (question 13)

I don't think that there is a message that is emerging but absolutely a theme. The theme is (in my opinion) how serious child prostitution actually is. I mean, it is a topic that should be looked into much more deeply. In the more developing countries I think it is more common for these kinds of things to happen because of the need or greed for the money. It is also shown in this book that things are being done and people are going out there to stop this kind of stuff from happening. They educating the villagers about what really happens to their daughters when they sell them to make money for home. This is shown with an example of the American that came to see Lakshmi in the book. He was telling her about a better place and trying to get her to realize that he isn't a bad person. (question 14)

SOLD- Patricia McCormick PG# 207-263 Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

This section starts with Lakshmi telling Shahanna about the American that came to her. She show her the card as well. Shahanna tells Lakshmi to not believe anything they say because they could trick you into coming with them and then she'd be shamed forever. Lakshmi tells her that she's not right. Or rather what Anita told her isn't right because this American truly did want to help her. Shahanna is a bitt hesitant to believe her, but then asks if she would take her(Sahanna) with her(Lakshmi). The next day, Lakshmi takes the doll that Monica had given to her after Harish left to give it back. As she was going downstairs, she meets Shilpa. Shilpa tells her that Mumtaz has kicked her out because she has a virus. A few days afterwards, there was a raid. Everyone jumped up and ran off to hide somewhere. Anita dragged Lakshmi with her into the kitchen. They hid in the cupboard beneath the sink. It was VERY small and had barley enough space for the two of them. They heard the voices of men coming closer and closer. There was lots of yelling and things falling everywhere. Door and cupboard where being thrown open and closed. Then suddenly, there was a very loud crash right above their heads. Both of their hearts froze right then and there. After that, they heard people walking out and slamming the door behind them. The girls slowing and carefully crept out of their hiding spot. What they say next was all of the food that the cook had made on the ground. Spoiled. The cook, crying, tried to salvage what she could. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to fix up the place before the customers started to come. Then, Lakshmi noticed something. She counted everyone and found that there was someone missing. That someone was Shahanna. The next night Lakshmi tells Mumtaz that she's not feeling well, so she sends the customers up to her. She just lays there unmoving. She lays in bed for a few more days until Anita comes up to talk to her one day. SHe tells her that Mumtaz is thinking of selling her(Lakshmi) to another prostitution house if she doesn't start to work again. Anita cries, so Lakshmi agrees to start working again. In the morning as Lakshmi was going down for breakfast she s stopped by Anita. Anita tells her that they'll hide in the closet next time and will lock it from the inside so no one will be able to open it. Lakshmi's miserable life continues like this for about another year or so. A new girl comes in during the next few days and Lakshmi hears her sobs coming from the locked room. She remembers when she first came here as well. Everyone has their on things that they do to pass the time around here. Shilpa, for one, drinks. So when the tea boy comes with Shilpa's liquor, Lakshmi asks him for some. He doesn't give it to her and says that it is bad. He tells her that he would bring better and much tastier things for her. So the next day the tea boy bring Lakshmi a Coca-Cola. She tells him that she has no money for it but he says that it's okay. She also asks him why he gives her tea for free as well. He tells her that they're both alone in this city. He doesn't wait for me to say anything else so he takes of the cap and offers it to me. She takes a sip and fireworks go off in her mouth. The boy smiles. So does she. Then Shilpa ruins the moment and screams at the boy. The next day the boy comes a bit late. He is bruised and has a swollen cheek. He says that his boss beat him because he was short a couple of rupees. Lakshmi decides to borrow from Mumtaz again to pay of her debt to this boy. Later on that day Lakshmi learns that none of the money that she is making is going to her family. It all goes to Mumtaz. She'll work her to death if she'll have to. Everything that she had done was for nothing. The tea boy comes in the next day and tells everyone that it's his last day because his boss is giving his route to another boy. As he turns to leave, Lakshmi runs and puts his arms around him. All the other girls laugh and say that she's in love with him. After he leaves she realizes that she doesn't even know his name. Lakshmi receives another American customer. He shows her a camera, takes a picture, and shows it to her. He tells her that he could take her to a better place and shows pictures of other girls smiling. He tells her that he'll come back with more people to come and take her away from this bad place and leaves. Every single day, Lakshmi waits for the American to return until one day there is a loud banging at the door. Everyone thinks it's the police so they run and hide. Lakshmi and Anita run to their hiding spot. Then Lakshmi hears the voice of the American. She tell Anita all about it but she doesn't believe her. Lakshmi can't take it anymore and she runs downstairs to a purple faced Mumtaz. She curses at her but that doesn't mean anything. The Americans have actually come to save her and take her to a better place. Then the story ends and we don't know what happens next. =)

This novel is very believable because this stuff happens all around the globe anyways, so it could be a possibility that all of this is reality. (question #20)

I would recommend this novel to some friends, but probably not all of them because I know that they wouldn't like it. To those few friends that I would recommend this book to would find this book to be okay. I personally thought that this book was a pretty okay book. Even though this book had some interesting twists and turns, it still didn't have lots of excitement. I think that the book could use a bit more action in it. Another thing that would have probably made me like this book more is to have something maybe at the end telling the readers what happened to Lakshmi after she was saved. How did she live? Did she actually go to America? DId she ever find Gita, her friend from the village? Did she ever find the tea boy again/ These are probably some question that I would like answered. (questions# 21 and 22)


 * __ Focus Assig﻿ment __**
 * __ SOLD By: Patricia McCormick __**

The novel that I chose to read was called SOLD written by Patricia McCormick. I think that it was written for people my age or maybe young adults. I think this because of what the story is about. I don’t think that this book is meant for children or kids younger than 13 because some of the content is not suitable for kids of a younger age. The good points in this story are about how the author entwines a strong message into one novel. I also like how the novel progresses and how the main character (Lakshmi) is talking about what’s happening from her perspective. Another thing that I like about this novel is that it’s written sort of like a diary or a journal because I enjoy reading books that have that kind of format. Some bad points in this novel would have to be how it just ends suddenly. I wish that the author had a little thing at the end that told the readers how Lakshmi was doing after the Americans came in with the police. It keeps the reader thinking, “Oh my gosh! I wonder what happened to her! Did she go to America? Did she go back to her village? Did she ever find her friend from the village?” Maybe that’s what the author intended. I’m not too sure about that but I would have liked some sort of explanation of how she’s doing afterwards. I don’t think that this novel helped me in any way but I guess that I did learn something about how so many young girls are mistreated and misused at such a young age. I guess what I found most interesting was the way that Lakshmi reacted to all the problems that came in her way. I enjoyed reading about what she thought about everything that was happening around her and how she interpreted it. Some things that I found most bizarre or things that made me really think include how some people would just sell their kids for money or because they are greedy. I know that this happens, but whenever I read about things like that it just makes me think about what the parents were thinking or how the children must feel. I feel that this novel is very believable because this stuff is happening all over the globe already and has been happening for quite a while. I think that I will be reading more books by this author because I like the style that this author writes in.

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