Sold

Sold is a fantastic piece of literature. It illustrates, in an almost episodic way, the world of child sex trafficking. We all know it exists, but generally turn a blind eye to it. Perhaps it is out of guilt, or maybe it is because we feel helpless. Either way, Sold does not let you turn a blind eye. It stares you in the face and you must tackle the topic, and your feelings, head on. Most surprisingly, Sold manages to utilize a variety of techniques that seem to be saved for novel writing. Maybe it is not uncommon for verse novels to use literary elements such as foreshadowing, rising action, climax or falling action but it was a first for me and I appreciated the depth that the inclusion of these literary elements provided to the story.

On a lighthearted note, Sold seems to illustrate two seemingly universal truths. One being that all adolescent girls will develop a crush on someone at some point in their life, as seen in the poems about Krishna, and another being that all adolescent girls love sweets, as illustrated by the many poems that include candy and sweet cakes. Just by including these two elements into the text, I found myself better able to connect with Lakshmi's character. These smaller elements also seemed to invoke the message that girls who are sold into the sex trade are more than victims - they are girls with families, crushes, likes and dislikes, and lives that shaped them prior to their misfortunes. In some way it offers a sense of hope that, if these girls can be rescued, that things might be okay.

Because of the complex nature of this verse novel, I think it has a lot to offer both adults and adolescents. More specifically, in a classroom setting this text could be used in a variety of ways. The poems can be looked at on an individual level, without a back story, and still provide a meaning. Or, the poems can be read as they are intended to be read - as a collection - and the discussion can be had about how poetry employs literary elements to portray a message, make a collection more interesting and so on. A text like this also provides a great segue into discussing topics such as social justice and other inequalities in the world that we seem to turn a blind eye to. Ultimately, this text can be used in a variety of valuable ways because of its complexity; it would be a shame to not take advantage of all this text affords.